Love, one step at a time
by k u r r o p o i
Summary: Love doesn't just pop up and hit you when you've yet to know what it's like. Shikamaru and Hinata bump into each other unexpectedly, and soon become closer than before. They seem to be just friends,but what if that friendship turns into a romance?
1. Chapter 1: Unexpected Guest

**All right! As you can see, I am very happy, cause I don't have writers block anymore! Anyway, I have created this story in honor of the fact that I have a new found love, which happens to be the couple ShikaHina! Yes! I know, It's a crack couple, but as you can see, I don't care! Cause this is my story and as such I shall do whatever I want with it! I also wrotw this because my other stort bombed, but I didn't feel like taking it down, i just wrote this. Hopefully this story doesn't suck eggs!**

**So anyway! I suppose you don't want to read all this babble, so go on and read the story!**

**( by the way, this is set in shippuden)**

…… noise

'……' whispering/ mummbling

"……" talking

_Italics _thinking

* * *

The pineapple headed chuunin walked along the streets of Konoha, trying to get out of sight of his teammates. It wasn't like he didn't like them, he care about his teammates very much, he just needed some space. He walked as fast as possible, because he knew they'd catch up to him sooner or later. He decided the best possible hideaway would be his secret spot, secluded in a few sakura trees. He almost ran around the next corner, knowing that they weren't to far behind him.

"Ugh! How hard can it be to find a guy with a big pineapple head?!" Ino asked loudly as she walked looking every which way for him.

"We might as well give up. You know how good he can hide." Chouji replied as he walked closely behind her.

"I don't care! But we are gonna find his ass! Whether he likes it or not! He knows that you two are suppose to take me shopping today!" she replied. Chouji sighed and continued to follow behind the crazy blonde girl while opening a bag of chips.

* * *

Shikamaru walked slowly so he could catch his breath as he walked in-between the trees. He exhaled and walked out from behind the last one into the beginning of a vast meadow, filled with flowers. He turned his head after admiring the view to see someone sitting his favorite spot. He was shocked to see that someone besides himself came here, but didn't bother with it for to long. He walked to this person and laid down next to them, but not closely. His eyes shifter toward his female company. She was small and petite, but not at all thin, but not fat either. She had long hair and her clothing was non-form fitting. She had a blank paged book in her lap and was pressing flowers within it. She slowly looked up to see him staring and almost jumped ten feet into the air.

"Well, I didn't think that anyone else came here besides me." Shikamaru told her. She clutched the fabric of her hoodie and stared back at him. She calmed down enough to speak.

"O-oh……well I'm s-sorry. I didn't k-know that a-anyone else came here either. I r-recently discovered this place. I-I'll just l-leave." she said until she felt a hand grasp her wrist.

"No, no. You don't have to go, I'm just very surprised." he told her. She nodded and sat back down. He laid back down with his arms behind his head. They sat in silence for an ample amount of time, he watched the clouds and she continued to press flowers into the pages of the blank book. Shikamaru stared at the sky, watching the clouds roll by slowly, the wind blowing them along. Curiosity was starting to get to Shikamaru, after laying there fro several minutes, he began to wonder how she knew about this place and why she came. As much as he didn't want to pry into her business, the wonderment of it all was getting to him.

"Hinata…" he said in his usual monotone voice. She turned her head to look down at him.

"Y-yes?"

"How do you know about this place and…….why did you come here?…….just asking, no particular reason." he said. Hinata's face turned several different colors before she actually decided to answer his questions.

"W-well…..I only kn-know about this p-place because….." she paused in order to gather the courage not to stutter every other word.

"Because I sort of well…….stumbled upon it one day…..not purposefully…..just stumbled…" she said with the success of no stuttering. He continued to stare at her while she looked down at her fidgety hands.

"And?…..", he asked lazily. She lifted her head up and realized she didn't finish his question.

"O-oh! And um……I'm here because…..I just wanted to get away from the world for a little bit…." she admitted shyly. His head turned more toward her, as she went to her previous phase of messing with the bottom of her hoodie. He had a hard time believing that anyone besides himself would want the same type of alone time as he would. Though their time alone was for a different reason, he rather liked the fact that this girl even considered wanting to be this way.

"I see……" he answered back closing his eyes. " You know, I never expected you of all people to want to be alone this much, when you usually are when you train." he said to her. She turned her head slightly toward him, lifting it barely.

"W-what makes you say t-that?" she asked curiously.

"Well, most times when I pass by the training field, you usually are alone, and I rarely see you with your team training, but I'm only saying what I think." he stated. She lifted her head again. This time blushing toward his words.

"Well, I………it……um….what I'm trying to say is that, even though I train alone, my teammates will come along and train with me, and although I appreciate the help and the company, I also wish that maybe I could get some alone time. Not that I'm implying it as a bad thing, but at home, I also get no privacy, with an over-protective cousin , a nosy little sister and a father who has to know about every step I take. So you see, this is why I'm here right now…" she stated. Shikamaru was surprised that she had more reasons than him for wanting to be alone, and Hinata was surprised at herself for even saying as much as she did with out stuttering.

He turned his head back forward, staring hopelessly into the never ending sky of clouds. Hinata felt uncomfortable, feelings as if she was a slight bother to him. She almost jumped into the tree when he started to talk again.

"Seen Kurenai lately?' he asked. She relaxed in her spot and calmly answered.

"Yes, just yesterday, and she is due any minute too." Hinata answered to him.

"I can't wait for her to pop that kid out. If she's not crying about something she's bitching about something else. Just like my mom, except my mom was BORN like that. I don't see how my dad puts up with it." he said crossing his legs. Hinata covered her mouth from snorting while she laughed.

"Well, right now she is very restless, but after she gives birth, I'm sure it won't be the same bad." she added. He looked at Hinata without turning his head.

"Tch, yeah, but I'm not changing diapers or anything, I refuse." he noted. Hinata tried to stop herself form laughing out loud, but failed. She started to laugh a quiet girl laugh and her hand inches from her mouth. Shikamaru sat up on his elbows to look at her with a raised eyebrow. She stopped laughing and noticed him staring and looked don't, blushing and poking her fingers together.

"Sorry….." she apologized. He sported a small smile and stood up, dusting his pants off. Hinata stopped her reoccurring habit when she saw a shadow over her. It was Shikamaru, holding out his hand to her. She stared up at him, confused.

"Well? You stare at me all day or are you gonna talk my hand?" he asked putting his other hand in his pocket. Hinata blushed and shook her head. She slowly took his hand, since she'd never held a boy's hand before…..well, e except Neji's when they were much younger, but family members don't count I this situation of sorts.

Shikamaru was a friend, and Hinata didn't even hold hands with Kiba nor Shino, and they were her closest. Once she stood up, Shikamaru started walking the direction of the exit for the meadow, motioning for Hinata to follow. She ran slowly to catch up.

"Where are we going?" she asked walking next to him.

"To visit Kurenai. I'm sure she's lonely and needs some human attention. Lets' hope she didn't eat herself out of house and home. Since she's Prego, she's been eating worse than Naruto and Chouji at an all you can eat ramen buffet, and they are no match for a prego of Kurenai's stature." he stated. Hinata covered her mouth laughing again. Shikamaru smiled hearing her laugh.

* * *

Ino and Chouji stood near a lamppost, still searching for their pineapple-headed companion. Ino held her an angry look that could kill, and Chouji stood at least a few feat away, afraid her fist might strike out and hit him unsuspectingly.

"Where….The Hell….IS HE?! We've been waiting for and hour, and I know that if I see him, he will not live to see the nest 30 minutes!" she said putting continuing to look. Chouji rolled his eyes, throwing a few chips into his mouth. His eyes widened to see his best friend walking out from the meadow diagonally 20 feet from them with the Hyuuga heiress.

"Hey! Look! It's Shikamaru and Hinata!" he pointed out. Ino's head jerk in the direction he pointed in. Her eyes grew large as what he said was true. The two of them walked side by side talking and laughing toward the opposite direction.

"Oh…..my……KAMI! Shikamaru and HINATA?! Who knew! This is GOLD, Chouji!" Ino said gleaming. Chouji was afraid of what she meant.

"What do you mean? They're just walking together, nothing strange about that." he answered. Ino's head slowly crept toward him, with an evil curled up smile on her face. Chouji face faulted at the look on her face, already afraid of her gestures, and when Ino looked this way, he knew she was up to something diabolical.

"Don't you get it! They are OBVIOUSLY going out! Look at that! Shikamaru barely laughs when he's around us! And since when have you seen THOSE two so friendly?!" she pointed out.

'Well. Maybe they're getting to know each other better. Besides, they're both helping out Kurenai." he stated.

'Yeah yeah yeah, but look at what we've go in front of us!" Ino stated as they followed the 'couple'.

"There's no doubt about it Chouji. They are going out, I know it!" she exclaimed, proud of her deduction. Chouji sighed.

"But you don't have any proof!" he said back. Ino craned her neck at him with a twisted, evil look on her face.

"I don't need no damn 'proof' to prove they aren't going steady! I'm a girl! I know about these things and I have 'couple senses' that tell me when two shinobi are together! And my senses are telling that they are obviously hot for each other!" she said stating another deduction. Chouji narrowed his eyes.

'Your senses must be out of whack…." he mumbled eating more chips.

"What was that?! You got something to say to me?!" she asked non too politely. He ignored her yelling and answered a simple 'No' and kept on with his business. Suddenly ,Shikamaru and Hinata took a right turn and Ino ran after them, with Chouji following.

"Wait a minute! Why are we running?!" he asked.

"They turned a corner and we've got to catch up! I wanna see where the younger lovers are going!" she said squealing. Chouji sighed as they continued to follow the other chuunin. He knew it was going to be a LONG day, especially with Ino.

Shikamaru listened to Hinata talk along the way, but couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed.

* * *

**HA! Chapter 1 is FINALLY complete. I wrote this about a month ago and got lazy with it and stopped writing, and just today I finished it!**

**Well, thanks for reading and tell me if you thought it was worthy!**

**Review please! I'd appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2: Tea and Cinnamon rolls

**All right! Since I got reviews last time, I've decided to grace all of you with another lovely chapter! I know the last one was a bit short , but I can fix that! Also, I hope I didn't jump into this story too fast, I'd hate to have that happen, but other than that, you may now read and enjoy the story! (Lets just hope I don't have typos like last time, cause I went back and read it, and I did oops!.)**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto, but if I did……. evil sadistic laughter **

* * *

Only yesterday did they really become more acquainted with each other. You might have thought it was pretty hard with a crazy pregnant woman……..scratch that. A pregnant NINJA woman. But, Hinata and Shikamaru could handle what ever obstacle was blocking their way……or so they thought.

The day before, they had gone to visit Kurenai, never suspecting that they might have needed a tranquilizer gun, but Kurenai wasn't a wild animal, oh no…….she was far worse. As if Shikamaru didn't think things could get any worse the other times before, he was so terribly wrong. Kurenai had not only eaten all the food in her house, she wanted them to go the grocery store AND get her take out from a Chinese restaurant.

Now, Shikamaru was nice guy, but he just decided that when his future wife was going to have his kids, he would request missions that kept him away for a long while. He didn't think he could handle pregnant women again, especially if they were going to act the way Kurenai does. Hinata could only laugh at the way Shikamaru took all of this, though, she hoped herself that if she were to get married and have children, she wouldn't follow Kurenai's example behavior.

The two chuunin sat across from each other at tea shop, enjoying their time together. They mostly did a little talking and for two people who hardly said much around others, they sure did talk a lot around each other.

"The next time we visit Kurenai, remind me to bring an elephant gun, I don't think I like crazy pregnant women trying to assassinate me." he said crossing his arms. Hinata almost choked on her tea.

"Well, I don't know about the gun but, maybe I'll use my byakugan to check her location first, just in case. " Hinata decided to add.

"Hell, I didn't think pregnant women could run so fast, let alone jump so high either…." he stated sipping his tea. Hinata could only smile at him while he didn't notice.

Unbeknownst to Shikamaru and Hinata, Ino and Chouji hid in some nearby bushes, spying on the two.

"Look .At. THAT! They are on a DATE! How sweet!" Ino said while looking through her binoculars. Chouji almost wanted to cry. Not only had the psycho blonde girl MAKE him tag along, she also held his potato chips hostage, which for him, was not cool. He sighed next to Ino.

"Ino…..they're not doing anything, they're just talking……I don't think they are on a date either…" he said. He could hear the bones in Ino's neck crack while her head turned slowly toward him, an ugly 'YOU DIE' look on her face.

"How many times do I have to say this Chouji? I'm a GIRL! I've read so many shinobi teen mags, it's not even funny! I JUST so happen to KNOW that this little scene we are watching is a DATE between, Hinata and the lazy bum!" she exclaimed. Chouji just narrowed his eyes after she turned back, rolling his eyes. They continued to watch Hinata and Shikamaru have a happy conversation, until Naruto, Sakura and Sai walked into the picture after spotting the two chuunin sitting together.

"What is THIS?! Look at this, Chouji! They are messing up the rarest date of the century! AND THEY ARE BLOCKING MY VIEW!" she said almost breaking the binoculars she held.

"Well? What are you going to do about it?" he asked. Ino could only act without saying words this time, she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to an even closer corner, as they could finally hear the on going conversation, arriving only minutes after team 7.

"WELL! If it ain't Hinata and His Laziness! How you two doin'?!" Naruto said grinning. Hinata could only say hi, while Shikamaru had a vein on his forehead.

"I don't appreciate that little nickname Naruto…" he said.

"But why deny the truth Shikamaru?!" he protested.

"Naruto shut up! The only truth here is you're stupidity!" Sakura said to him. Naruto looked at

Sakura with waterfall tears. Sakura could only roll her eyes.

"Well Shikamaru-kun, if you did not like Naruto's rendition of your nickname, why not let me give you one?" Sai suggested. Naruto and Sakura swiftly covered his mouth to keep him from even attempting to say it. Hinata, Shikamaru and the two eavesdroppers all rose and eyebrow at the sudden action.

"Um, yeah, you don't really want to hear what he was about to say!" Sakura said smiling nervously! Naruto and Sakura took their hands from his mouth. Naruto turned back to Hinata and Shikamaru, while Sakura threatened Sai to not utter what ever his previous statement was going to be.

"SO! Hinata, Shikamaru! You guys on date or what?!" he asked wagging his eyebrows. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at him, a non noticeable blush on his face, while Hinata's childhood habit came back to get her as her pointer fingers pushed together. Just as Shikamaru was about to open his mouth, a fist came flying at Naruto's head and knocked him unconscious. Shikamaru and Hinata face faulted, though, Ino tried to quiet her laughter and Chouji was now afraid of someone other than Ino.

"SHANNARO! Baka-Naruto!" Sakura screamed at him. Naruto laid on the ground, eyes swirling around, foam oozing from his mouth. Though it was not visible, Sai was also scared of his teammate's brute strength. Sakura them picked up her K.O.ed teammate and walked out into the street, then turning toward the sitting chuunin.

"Sorry about that! We'll see you guys later, bye!" she said walked ahead, Sai waved his goodbye while walking after Sakura. The tension in the area loosened up as Hinata and Shikamaru relaxed in their seats.

"Ano……..that was interesting……of course, our tea is cold now.." Hinata spoke first. Shikamaru sighed.

"That wasn't even interesting. That was like being in hell for five minutes." he said. Hinata stared at him and a smile appeared on her face while he fished out some money from his pocket. In Hinata's case, no matter what obscenity came from Shikamaru's mouth, it made her laugh or smile, but she didn't know why.

"Come on, let's go. Drinking cold tea is not something I'm into." he said standing up, stretching. Hinata got up from her seat and followed him out. Chouji sweat dropped. Not only was this getting dangerous, it was boring him to death. Ino, on the other hand, was smiling evilly. She turned around to Chouji a confident smirk on her face.

"WELL! Was that proof enough for you Chouji?!" she asked. Chouji raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Ino narrowed her eyes.

'You know DAMN well what I'm talking about! Yesterday you said there was no proof of them dating right?" he asked. He couldn't argue with her, as if he wanted to since this is Ino we're talking about, so he answered.

"Yeah?" he said unsure.

'Well, I have proven you wrong today! Because what we just witnessed was their date!" she said grinning.

"But Naruto was just about to ask him if they where, and I clearly remember him never answering. So, technically, there is still no proof." he said. Ino's eye twitched as she gritted her teeth together.

"SO?! He didn't answer, but he didn't bring it back up either! Also, they seem to be pretty 'friendly!' today! He even paid for her drink! Now you can't tell me they aren't together! Now come on! They're on the move!" she said walking along after them. Now, Chouji had two choices; he could A) Run far away as possible, freeing him from Ino, or B) Have her run after him with a chainsaw. Chouji sighed slowly walking along after his teammate. He decided that he wanted to live for a couple more decades.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata decided that since Kurenai was currently murdering Kakashi that day with her prego antics, they would take that day to have a stroll around Konoha, with Ino and Chouji not too far away. Hinata had stopped walking her head tilted a little in the air. Shikamaru stared quizzically, wondering why she did. He then saw a large smile appear on her face.

"Oh! I smell cinnamon rolls!" Hinata said happily. Shikamaru looked down at the smaller chuunin, seeing her pipe up like a child. He watched as she reached into her pocket, pulling out some money, then a sad look crossed over her face.

"Ano…..I don't have enough money….." she said sadly to herself. Shikamaru frowned a little for her, looking at the cinnamon roll stand from afar and back at her. As she started to walk ahead, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to him.

"Wait here." he said walking away from her. She watch him walk confused and watched him walk into a different direction. Only about two minutes later did Shikamaru return with a small box in his hand. He stood in front of Hinata and held it in front of her. She looked up at him confused until she smelled a familiar smell.

"Shi-Shikamaru…you?…..for me? I…." she tried to say while blushing, but just couldn't say what she was trying to say.

"Yeah, I figured you might be hungry, especially since you really wanted one." he said, a tint of unnoticed pink on his cheeks. Hinata smiled at him and took the box, hugging him with one arm afterward. His eye's went wide until she let go.

"Thank you so much!" she said. Once he snapped out of his trance like state, they began to walk again, going to find a place to sit and eat.

Chouji could only sigh, he knew it was coming. He looked at Ino who was smiling with triumph.

"Well well Chouji! Did you see that! He bought her cinnamon rolls too! And she HUGGED him!!" she said with her smile growing.

"You know, he was just being nice. She is his friend after all." he said back, as he finally got his chips back, opening the bag.

"How can you say that?! With us ,he never pays for OUR food and drinks! I'm telling you Chouji! They are together! Why can't you just see the truth for what it is?!" she asked as they followed after them once again.

"Well for one thing, I still don't think any of that counts and also , we would have known this by now! We're his team and he tells EVERYTHING. So, in conclusion, they are just spending time together, not on a date." he explain pulling out chips. Ino glared at him.

"You what?! Everything you said to ME was a bunch of B.S! Just cause he hadn't 'told' us about his romantic outgoing with Hinata doesn't mean they aren't going steady! Maybe he's just not ready to tell us!" she said, stating her theory.

"Or maybe, they are just hanging out." he replied. Ino snorted.

"Anyway!! I think he is trying to keep their relationship secret, waiting until after they elope to tell us all about them being secret lovers!! OOH! I LOVE things like this!" Ino exclaimed letting out a girls squeal Chouji almost choked on his chips, seriously trying to figure out where the 'eloping' and the 'secret lovers' part came from.

* * *

While Shikamaru and Hinata sat In the grass, eating the two cinnamon rolls he bought, they both couldn't' shake the feeling of someone talking about them.

* * *

**All right! Chapter 2 complete! I hope this was as good as the first! I TRIED to make this one a bit longer, so you guys wont be all bored and stuff. The next chapter will be coming to you soon, hopefully around next week!**

**Until next time peeps! **

**Review please!!**


	3. Chapter 3: Shopping REPOST

**This chapter has been betanized by ****kawaiichiisaikitsune****, so I have reposted it any typos and sentences that probably didn't make sense have been fixed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, though I really wish I did (evil intent intended)**

* * *

Shikamaru stood in front his house, afraid to move, seeing as his two teammates that blocked his way. But he was afraid for two reasons; one, being not so scary, was the fact that he was afraid of making Hinata wait on him - because he was already 15 minutes late, - and two was that Ino was a crazy psycho who was the most unpredictable person he knew. Chouji stood to the far right of Ino, also afraid of her for the same reasons as Shikamaru, minus making Hinata wait.

"Why are you two trying to gang bang me in front my house?" Shikamaru asked, putting his hands into his pockets. Ino's smile got wider as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Oh, Shikamaru. You slay me! We are not here to gang bang you. We're just bidding you good morning!" she said, smiling at him. He cringed as well as Chouji, who really had no idea that she was going to do something this asinine because that's not usually something she'd do

"Okay. I'm just gonna go this way now," he said trying to escape the blonde monster, but she side-stepped him.

"So, Where are you going?" she asked. He was going to run away before she decided to bombard him with another question, but thought it was dangerous since she can catch him not matter how fast he ran.

"Why?" he asked back. Ino's eye twitched.

"Just wondering, dear friend! " she put an emphasis on "dear." Shikamaru was ready to bolt, when he just remembered, again, that she is a fast one.

"Well, that's nice and everything, but I have to go. I'm late for... something," he said, walking off in the direction of his destination.

Once he was out of ear shot, Ino turned to Chouji, fuming. "Why didn't you say anything?!" she screamed. He flinched.

"Why would I have needed to?! You were the one doing all the talking. You even told me before we got here, 'Chouji, don't say anything. Let me do all the talking!'" he said reciting her very words. Ino narrowed her eyes.

"Alright, you're getting off easy this time, but next time, there ain't gonna be an easy way out! But anyway, did you hear what he said?! Obviously he is going on another date with Hinata. And, look at him, trying to keep it a secret…" she gasped, "What if they eloped already?!" she said. Chouji was just amazed at how vast and bizarre her imagination was, and he still trying to figure out where the "eloping" part came from.

"What are you talking about?! How do you even come up with this stuff?!" he said. Ino completely ignored him and dragged him along to follow Shikamaru.

"Quiet, my faithful sidekick! We must follow thy fellow comrade, the deer ,to his eternal sunshine!" she said. Chouji really wanted to cry now.

* * *

Hinata leaned against the wall at the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant braiding one of her long side bangs. She dropped the braid when she heard footsteps approaching her, and looked up to see who it was.

"Shikamaru!" she said happily, putting her hands on the wall to push herself away from of it. Shikamaru took his right hand and scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't make you wait to long, did I?" he asked, hoping she would give him a good answer.

"Well, actually no, I just got here about three minutes before you did," she said, smiling and standing in front of him. He exhaled and smiled, happy to see he didn't keep her waiting too long.

"So, what are we in for today?" he asked, putting his hand back in its previous place. Hinata smiled and pulled a piece of folded up paper from her pocket, unfolding in and showing it to him. Shikamaru squinted at the jumbled cursive handwriting and sighed, frowning. He knew this was none other than the handwriting of Kurenai.

"Oh great, she wants us to go rob the supermarket for her prego needs. Again." he said Hinata snickered and followed him as he walked ahead, motioning for her to follow. Ino and Chouji poked their heads from behind a nearby corner. Ino was grinning while Chouji could only sigh.

"Did you hear that?! They're going shopping together. So cute! This is getting interesting. Chouji, how much money do you have?" she asked, turning around to face him. His eyes grew wide at her question. Since he knew she was up to no good, he narrowed his eyes.

"Why do you want to know all of a sudden?" he asked suspiciously. Ino frowned.

"Look, either I pop you with my fist, or you tell me how much money you friggin' have!" she threatened. He flinched and pulled out his wallet, opening it to see a few bucks.

"Well, this is all I got. What do you need my money for?" he asked. Ino started to smile, and it grew wider with every second.

"Heh heh! Well, my dear sidekick, we're going to buy a video camera," she said, eyes sparkling. Chouji just stared at her. He knew she was crazy, but? this was going overboard.

"Why?" he asked. Ino only smiled some more.

"'Why, you ask?! I will tell you," she said happily as she dragged him around the corner to stalk behind the other two chuunin from afar. As soon as they found a spot to compose a plan, Ino started to explain her first idea.

"Okay, now listen. We're buying a video camera in order to make our job easier," she said, as they watched Hinata and Shikamaru shop around in the supermarket for Kurenai's needs from outside behind another conspicuous bush.

"What job?" he asked.

"Our job to insure the safety of Shikamaru and Hinata's sacred love!" she said. Chouji could swear she was making it up, only because it sounded so corny.

"And so, we'll need to keep a video record of their outgoings with the video camera!" she said with stars in her eyes. Chouji really wanted to cry.

Shikamaru sighed as he held the basket with the necessities that Kurenai needed again. It hadn't even been a week yet, and she had already consumed the equivalence of a two pantries. He found it troublesome and just plain silly, though he can't blame her, she was pregnant after all. Still, he didn't think pregnant women ate that much. He glanced to his companion and smiled, seeing Hinata enjoy shopping for groceries, her face full of happiness. He liked seeing that on her.

He and Hinata began to walk up to the cash register, and paid for all of the items, and walked out of the store, towards the home of Kurenai. Ino and Chouji weren't too far behind and walked after them. Once they saw the two other chuunin walk into the house, Ino exploded with joy.

"Ahahahaha! ," Ino laughed. "This is priceless. It's like they're playing house!" she said.

Chouji looked at her with a funny expression after hearing the crazy girl ramble on about their friends. He could only attempt to tune her out by munching on his/some chips.

* * *

Once inside Shikamaru sat the brown paper bags on the kitchen counter and sat at Kurenai's dinning room table, slouching and tilting his head back, looking directly at the ceiling. Hinata began to unpack the groceries and things and started to put them away. Kurenai was currently taken to go baby shopping with Anko and Shizune.

Shikamaru's head leaned to the side in Hinata's direction as he saw the shorter chuunin attempt to put a box into the highest part of the cubbard. She stood on her tippy toes, struggling to push the box of uncooked noodles into the cub bard, but had no such luck. Her eyes widened as she felt a presence behind her and a bigger hand on hers pushing the box into the open space. She stood on flat feet, blushing and turning to Shikamaru, who was looking away, a faint blush on his face.

"O-oh, thank you, Shikamaru," she said, looking down and fiddling with the end of her jacket. His blushed grew without her noticing.

"Uh, you're welcome," he managed to get out. The suspense was murder. Shikamaru cleared his thoughts, and his blush died down to a minimum. He then cleared his throat, and the once again not blushing Hyuuga looked up at him.

"Well, since you're done, do you wanna get something to eat? I'm buying," he suggested. Hinata's eyes grew large.

"But why? I can just cook something to-" she said until she thought of why he said it. While Kurenai was pregnant, she had, of course, unpredictable mood swings, and - not only that - she knew when food was missing from her house. And Shikamaru took that opportunity to suggest they go out to eat and not face the wrath of the prego-monster. Hinata nodded at him and they left the house, post haste.

* * *

The two ninjas walked out of the house, and Ino's couple senses tingled as she quickly jumped up from behind the bushes.

"About damn time they came out! Come on," she said, going in a completely different direction than they were, taking Chouji with her.

"Wait, I thought that we were following them?" he asked. He was hoping that maybe just once she realized that stalking them is a waste of time. He was almost crying tears of joy until she spoke.

"We are. We're just going to go buy that video camera first!" she said as they walked toward and electronics store. Chouji's tears went from joy to disappointment. Just when he thought she was giving up, she was following her ridiculous plan.

Shikamaru and Hinata sat at the Ichiraku ramen restaurant eating their fresh ramen. Hinata continued to eat the hot contents slowly while Shikamaru felt that same weird feeling that they were being watched and talked about, but he brushed it off and went back to eating his noodles.

**Well, I don't have much to say anyway, since this is a repost chapter! So, just enjoy the rest!**

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4: Movies

_**Hope I haven't kept you all waiting to long. I have too much going on ( effing school), and I am TRYING my hardest to update this story, and don't worry, I'm not going to abruptly stop writing and disappear for good 3 years or anything. I will continue to write this story until I end it! ( also! I know that in the world of Naruto, they don't have portable video camera's and such, but since this is MY story, no such rules apply!)**_

_**ANYWAY! Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! wish I did though!**_

'……' _**whispering**_

"……_**." talking**_

_italics _**thinking**

* * *

Shikamaru sat at Kurenai's dinner table, slouching forward with his arms folded under his chin. He just couldn't understand how Hinata could listen to the prego-wonder babble on and on about what she, Shizune and the Amazon woman/Anko bought. He thought his mothers nagging was worse, but this was no where near as bad, since Shikamaru was not his father and was made to listen this time.

_I don't understand how Hinata can sit here and listen to that woman. _he thought looking up at Hinata. His eyes grew wide as he noticed that the poor girl was asleep with her chin propped up on her hand. Kurenai just kept on talking as she cooked them lunch.

Ino and Chouji were positioned in a tall, nearby tree, getting the video camera ready to capture any worthy footage of Shikamaru and Hinata. Ino stared through the open window of Kurenai's apartment grinning while Chouji attempted to figure out the device in his hands.

"You know Ino, it would be nice if you could help." he suggested while inserting the blank tape into the machine. Ino turned her head toward him with a menacing glare.

"SHUT UP! They'll hear us!" he said looking back though her binoculars. Chouji sighed mumbling under his breath. He turned on the device and turned it in Ino's direction, narrating the scene.

"This is Ino, she is a psycho blonde who dragged her poor and hungry friend Chouji, into following their other friends, Shikamaru and Hinata, who she thinks are 'together' when she has NO proof! Sad right?" he said still video taping Ino's back as she peered through her binoculars. She turned around, her eyes bugged out.

"Stop playin' around and shoot at them! NOT ME!" she said pointing. He rolled his eyes and pointed the camera eye to the open window, seeing Hinata and Shikamaru sitting at a table together.

"Well! Does it work?! Can you see them?!" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I see them very clearly." Ino then grabbed the camera from him and started to video tape them herself. Chouji narrowed his eyes at her and sat back eating chips.

"HA! Just look! SO CUTE! They must be having lunch together!" she squealed. Chouji was seriously considering leaving that tree and finding his friend some special help.

* * *

After their lunch, Hinata and Shikamaru left Kurenai's apartment, since she had left to hang out again. As you would know, Ino and Chouji followed, only after resting a minute when Ino fell out of the tree. Much to their surprise, the video camera was still intact and useable. Hinata and Shikamaru walked bout Konoha. Hinata doing most of the talking, telling him amusing stories of her younger self , her sister and Neji, in which Shikamaru automatically thought 'blackmail'. They walked admiring the scenery for at least 30 minutes, with Ino and Chouji not to far behind.

"Arrrraaaagh! They aren't friggin' DOING anything! Where's the **fiery** passion?!" Ino exclaimed as she looked through her binoculars and Chouji was stuck with videotaping.

"Is this the part where I say ' I told you so?'" Chouji asked, implying his point that Ino didn't know the truth behind the other chuunin's relationship. Ino turned her head away from the binoculars.

"You know what? SHUT UP! I HAPPEN to know that in a situation like this, these two are the type of lovers who show their hot, fiery passionate love towards each other in the safety of closed doors! And I DON'T mean as in what ever you might be thinking, ya nasty!" she said turning her attention back to the two 'lovers' who were now talking to team Gai, much to Ino's surprise.

"WHAT is THIS?! NO! This is not fair! Our two little love birds are having their perfect date RUINED by them! How are we suppose to videotape their precious moments with these trespassers ruining the scene!?" she exclaimed in anger. Chouji was already mad that she even though he would think such a thing as she said before, now he was quietly laughing at her expense.

Shikamaru and Neji both sighed as Rock Lee began to explain to Hinata the wonderfulness of the youthful nature of spring and such other nonsense, seeing as Hinata was thoroughly fascinated. TenTen's fist rose high in the air and knocked Lee over the head, making him stop his rambling and his hands flew to the hurt area, rubbing his head. Hinata tried not to laugh and had to ask if he was okay.

"LEE! We came here to visit! Not bore them to death!" she told her boyfriend.( a/n: even MORE crack in the story!) Lee sheepishly smiled at her as she glared at him. Hinata was covering her mouth snickering at the two. Shikamaru took this time to turn to Neji.

"So…..Neji, how's Temari?" he asked smirking. Neji's straight line of a mouth formed into a smile as he turned his head to Shikamaru. ( a/n: another serving of crack YES?! Ha ha!)

"Well, since you asked, she's just fi-" he was about to say until he realized what Shikamaru had asked and obviously knew.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" he almost screamed. Shikamaru's smirk got wider as Hinata, TenTen and Lee turned to look at the scene. Shikamaru didn't say anything, all he could do was snicker. It wasn't like he hated Neji because his whole point of blasting Neji out like that was for slight revenge for Neji calling him 'bambi' a while back. TenTen and Lee walked closer to Neji, sly smiles on their faces. Neji knew the questions we're coming. Shikamaru and Hinata stood back to watch for the time being

"Well, well, WELL!" TenTen said exaggerating the last 'well'. " Looks like Neji finally got himself a girlfriend! This is so RICH!" she said laughing.

"YES! So the powerful forces of youth have taken it's toll on you! We must celebrate!" Lee said. dragging a crying Neji with TenTen following, after bidding the other two ninja goodbye. Hinata looked up at Shikamaru smiling. Shikamaru looked down at Hinata, only to blush when he saw how lovely her smile was.

"Err….well…ready to go?" he asked, embarrassed. She took his arm and looped it with his pulling him along with her. He took that as a yes.. Ino almost had a heart attack when she saw the close contact, while Chouji was just starring, scared of Ino as she trembled with complete joy. Shikamaru's blush increased from Hinata's soft touch on his arm.

"I can see why you we're giving off that smirk when I told you about Neji and Temari!" she said laughing. Shikamaru controlled his blush and threw out a laugh with her.

"Well, he was gonna have to spill it to them sooner or later. Besides, that'll teach him to never to call me 'bambi' again." he said cringing when he said the name. Hinata's smile widened, though like him, she held a having a hard time believing she took his arm like that.

Ino turned and grabbed Chouji by his collar, the corners of her mouth turning up into a cunning smile. Chouji just stared at the crazy blonde, afraid for his life.

"Uh…Ino?" he said.

"Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT?! They have looped arms! That was such a GRAND exit! You video taped that RIGHT?!" she asked screaming. Chouji seriously and truthfully wanted to cry now.

"Uh…..yeah?" he said shifting his eyes, looking for a way to escape.

"GREAT! Now get up!" she said standing up herself. " We must follow thy fellow friends over yonder to the new destination!" she said. Chouji stood up slowly, keeping his distance from her. She then grabbed him and bolted after Shikamaru and Hinata.

* * *

The two arrived in front of the movie theater, which was their prime goal that day. Though Shikamaru wasn't much of a movie watcher, he liked his share of psychological thrillers ,mystery and horror movie's himself. He was also surprised that Hinata would even want to go see a horror movie , even though it was her idea in the first place. Not only that, SHE chose the movie on his behalf. They both entered the theater, unbeknownst to them, Ino and Chouji stood in front of the same poster that the other two had been looking at. Ino had a sly grin on her face while staring and Chouji just stared creeped out.

"Silent Hill?! They're going to see SILENT HILL?!" Chouji exclaimed.

"Yep! Isn't it grand?!" She said smiling. Chouji was really afraid now.

"Why are you so happy about this?! Naruto told me Silent Hill was one of the most disturbing movies out right now!" he exclaimed putting the video camera away, since they couldn't used it in the dark of the movie theater.

"Because! It is a WELL know fact that some girls can't STAND to watch horror movies! And I JUST so happen to know that Hinata can't! She'll be clinging all over him! So we have to witness EVERYTHING they do and you must write down everything that happens! Understand?!" she said. Chouji nodded slowly.

"GOOD! Now come on, they're probably sitting down already!" she said dragging him inside.

Chouji seriously and truly wanted to cry, so much.

* * *

Shikamaru just stared at the movie screen, his eyes wide like a child's. He was very interested in this movie, but Hinata was not. She was stuck, practically glued to his arm. They we're barely to the middle of the movie and she was already scared, as the scene before them showed the young woman ,who searched for her daughter, being followed by some little demon children. Hinata whimpered and buried her face into his shoulder, trembling. He averted his attention from the screen and looked at Hinata, a worried expression crossing his face.

'Hinata." he whispered. She looked up at him, her eyes wide like a deer in head lights.

'Y-y-y-y-y-y-yes?' she managed to squeak out.

'You know, if this is too much for you, we can always leave.' he suggested, not wanting her to be scared. It worried him when she was uncomfortable or sad.

'N-no! I'm fine! R-r-r-really! It's not that scary!" she said. He could tell she was lying. He then got his entrapped arm free from her death grip and did the unimaginable; he wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her close. Hinata blushed while she poked her fingers together. Shikamaru went back to watching the movie, while also blushing himself.

Ino stared at the two chuunin her mouth open wide in shock. She then poked Chouji, trying to get his attention, still staring at the two.

'Chouji! CHOUJI!' she whispered harshly. Just when Chouji thought he'd be scared stiff from the movie, he was wrong, he was scared silly. He stared at the screen wide eyed from seeing Pyramid Head rip the skin off of the female victim. Ino grew angry as she punched him. He then turned his head slowly toward her.

'Now that I've gotten your attention! DID YOU SEE THAT! He's got his ARM around her!!" she said quickly pulling out a note pad and pencil and jotting it down. Chouji nodded, still transfixed by the previous scene in the movie.

Through out the rest of the movie, Shikamaru was unfazed by the gory acts, while Hinata kept burying her head into his chest, which made Shikamaru's blush increase ten fold. Ino was watching the movie and the two ninja at the same time, more interested in them than the movie. She was unfazed by the gory acts as well, though Chouji was not and he was about the pull a Hinata and faint.

* * *

After the movie, Shikamaru and Hinata walked out, Hinata still clinging to him. She was scared stiff, never letting him go. He got worried and stopped once they reached Kurenai's apartment, standing in front of her door. Ino and Chouji sat in some nearby bushes. Ino was still hung up on the 'couple' while Chouji was trying to get the mental images of he movie out of his head, by eating chips and thinking about BBQ.

Shikamaru pulled himself from Hinata's arm and stood in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders, giving her a concerned look.

"Hinata…..now, if you were that scared, we really could have just left." he said calmly, his voice soothing her. She stared at him, her eyes wide and he stared back. Ino got really excited now.

"OMG! Chouji LOOK!! They are going to kiss! KISS! OH this is just beautiful! Hurry up with the damn video camera! Before we miss capturing this wonderful moment!" she said to him. Chouji, finally over his breakdown, rolled his eyes and picked up the device, capturing the moment on tape. Ino staring chanting 'kiss' the entire time, in which Chouji rolled his eyes again.

Shikamaru and Hinata continued to stared at each other, both blushing.

"Hi-Hinata…" Shikamaru said, stuttering her name. Then Hinata threw herself into him, wrapping her arms around his midsection, head buried into his chest. Shikamaru's blush engulfed his entire face, never being in such close contact with a girl before. Ino frowned, her dream of them kissing shattered.

"DAMN! They didn't kiss! OH WELL! A hug is close enough for me!" she said going back into her crazy stupor and continuing to watch the two in front of them. Chouji rolled his eyes again and kept shooting the scene

Shikamaru looked down at Hinata, who was still holding onto him.

"Oh, Shikamaru, I'm so glad you are so understanding…" she admitting, her blush hidden from his eyes. He continued to blush as his hand went to stroke her hair, while his other hand rubbed her back.

"Um….of course Hinata, I do care about you after all….." he admitted looking away. Hinata looked up at him, smiling. He turned his face back, seeing her smile and gave her a hearty smile. As they stood, still together, the door to the apartment flew open, to reveal Anko and Shizune starting to walk out, with Kurenai following to see them off. Shikamaru and Hinata stared wide eyed, with the three women staring back. Ino and Chouji also stared wide eyed from the bushes.

"WHAT THE HELL! Why is it that every time our two lovers are alone together, they always get interrupted?!" she exclaimed. Chouji flinched when she yelled and continued to watch.

As the two continued to stared, Anko had a devious grin appear on her face.

"WELL! Look who's getting frisky!" she said laughing. Hinata and Shikamaru quickly stepped away from each other, Hinata poking her fingers together and Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"Anko! You know that is NOT what they we're doing!" Shizune said defending them.

'"Yeah right! You know how teenagers are these days!" she said still laughing. She and Shizune walked around the two and down he steps.

"See you around Kurenai! Bye love doves!" she said laughing again.

"Yes! Good bye Kurenai, Hinata, Shikamaru." she said as well. Shikamaru and Hinata turned their gazes to Kurenai, who was standing in the door way, stomach and all, looking at them smiling.

"Well, is there something you two want to tell me?" he said still smiling. Shikamaru and Hinata looked at each other and them back at her.

"No." they both said. Kurenai shook her head, motioning for them to come in and eat dinner with her. They both stood before going and looked at each other.

"Um…..Hinata I-" he started to say before he felt her lips on his cheek. He turned his head slowly to her and she was standing in front of him, smiling and blushing.

"Thank you for being so understanding, I appreciate it…..and…..I care about you too….." she said turning around to walk inside. Shikamaru continued to stand there, putting his hand on the Hinata marked cheek, blushing. His lips went into a smile as he walked into the apartment closing the door behind him.

Ino's mouth was dropped open, and so was Chouji's. He slowly lowered the camera and Ino slowly turned her body towards him as they both stood up, mouths closed. Chouji knew it was coming now.

"HOLY SHIT! DID YOU SEE THAT! That was pure, raw, uninterrupted FIERY PASSION!" she said. Chouji cocked an eyebrow at her statement.

"What?! All she did was kiss him on the cheek! How is that 'fiery passion'?!" he asked.

"SO?! She kissed him, and TO ME it was fiery passion, THE END! Now come on, we must watch and review our recording of their date!" she said marching out from the bushes. He sighed and turned off the camera, walking out as well, following the blonde menace.

* * *

As Shikamaru, Hinata and Kurenai sat around the table playing a round of Uno while waiting on Kurenai's food to cook, Shikamaru and Hinata both sneezed at the same time, having the feeling of their names being mentioned.

* * *

**HAAA! Chapter 4 is FINISHED! Sorry it took so long for me to update, I had a hard time trying to figure out the events for this chapter, which JUST so happens to be the longest.**

**And I must say, I am proud of myself of it's longness!**

**I also suggest that is you guys haven't seen Silent Hill yet, YOU SHOULD! It may be creepy and just down right disturbing, but it was a damn good movie! ( oh, and excuse the way I skipped around in the movie, there are some parts I can't remember, so I skipped them, sorry!)**

**ANYWAY! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will TRY to have chapter 5 up soon, hopefully by next week, I promise, just please, please, PLEASE bare with me!**

**Thanks for reading and review please! **

**( reviews mean longer chapters (hopefully) and me squealing like I did when I watched Horton Hears a Who near the end of the movie. ( go watch that too, it was AWESOME and you will see why I was squealing!)**


	5. Chapter 5: Parents REPOST

**Hello! You are about to read chapter 5! Which has been skillfully edited by ****kawaiichiisaikitsune!**

**Disclaimer: If I could do a Henge and look Like Masashi Kishimoto, would that count as owning Naruto?...NAW!**

**(P.S I didn't put the flashback in italics this time. You'll be able to tell it's the blashback due to the entire section being in past tense!Okay, you can read now!)**

* * *

Shikamaru walked slowly behind Hinata, afraid for his life. Not because of Ino (for once in his life), but for the fact that he was taking Hinata over to his house. And the only thing he was afraid of was his mother, who always nagged about him never bringing home a "special young lady" home to meet his parents. Of course, to Shikamaru, Hinata was very special to him; he just didn't know how special she was just yet.

Unlike Shikamaru, Hinata was excited about meeting his parents ever since she had invited him over to meet her father only two hours ago.

* * *

Hinata had pulled Shikamaru by his hand, blushing the whole way down the halls of the Hyuuga manor. Shikamaru had also held a blush, walking fast to keep up with the small feet of Hinata. That day Hinata had decided that she wanted Shikamaru to meet her father. At first she had thought it was an excellent idea, but soon after they had took one step onto the Hyuuga compound, she had grown nervous. What if her father scared Shikamaru away? What if he tried to kill Shikamaru for being so close to his eldest daughter? Hinata had had so many scenarios going on in her head, she had actually stopped walking, still holding onto Shikamaru's hand, while biting on her free hand's thumb.

Shikamaru had raised an eyebrow at her behavior. He had put his free hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. Hinata had shook her head and turned to him.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just out of it today. Forgive me," she had said, blushing. Shikamaru had smiled and patted her head.

"It's okay, can't say I don't do the same thing sometimes," he had admitted. Hinata had smiled and continued to pull him along.

Around an unsuspecting corner Neji, Temari, and Hanabi peaked from behind it, had watcheding the other two ninja. All three had grinned a grin just as bad as Ino's.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Deer Man and Sunshine Girl," Temari had said, laughing. Neji had smirked and Hanabi had been confused.

"This is too good. We have to see this," Neji had said.

'I'm confused. What are they doing?" Hanabi had asked. Neji and Temari had quickly covered her mouth at her loudness.

"Shhh! Hinata is going to take Shikamaru to meet Uncle Hiashi," Neji had explained.

"And what we are gonna do is spy on them to see what happens. Understand?" Temari had said. Hanabi's head had bobbed up and down rapidly from nodding yes. Neji and Temari had let go of her mouth as the three tiptoed, following Hinata and Shikamaru around the manor.

Not so far away, hidden on the compound near the open sliding door to the room Hiashi had waited in, Ino and Chouji were in the bushes right near the open door waiting for Hinata and Shikamaru to show up. Ino had been too eager to capture the meeting of Hiashi and Shikamaru, but Chouji had felt thought otherwise. He had been more afraid of getting caught trespassing on Hyuuga grounds; he also couldn't hadn't understood how Ino had just ignored that information.

"Alright, Chouji, no matter what happens, keep filming!," she had told him. He had already been scared enough; he hadn't thought it could get any worse from what it already was.

"Why do you have to make it sound like we're going to get caught?" he had asked.

"Because! If we do and we have to run, I still want to you continue filming while I narrate our daring escape. If it just so happens that you get caught, I'll wish you the best of luck! Now, keep your eyes peeled for our soon-to-be-bride-and-groom," she had said, looking through her binoculars again.

Hinata and Shikamaru had stood in front of the door to the room, still holding hands. Both had breathed out, and Hinata had opened the sliding door, letting go of his hand and walking in. Shikamaru had walked in after her. They had stared at Hiashi with wide eyes as the older man satwas sitting Indian style on the floor in front of them, playing with a rubix cube.

"Damn Rubix Cube! I can never figure these stupid things out," he had said, struggling with the cube. He had looked up, feeling another presence, and jumped a little, seeing his daughter and her friend standing in front of him, staring.

"Oh, ninja Jesus! Uh-uh," he coughed. "Hrmph. Hello Hinata, Shikamaru. I suppose you've come to see me today?" he had said, returning into his usual Hyuuga leader behavior. Hinata and Shikamaru had sat down, legs crossed, Indian style after looking at each other for a brief second.

"Chouji, look! They're in there. Quick! Get the camera," Ino had said, waving her hand in front of his face. He had rolled his eyes and grabbed the camera, aiming it inside the room.

Neji, Temari, and Hanabi had peaked in through a tiny crack in the door, able to see inside just enough without not being seen spying.

"So, Shikamaru, I see you and my daughter have become quite close," Hiashi had said, stroking his imaginary beard. Shikamaru had just stared at the crazy man in front of him.

"Uh, yes. Yes, I have," he had said. Shikamaru had thought Hinata's father had a stick stuck up his arse from the way Hinata had described him to her. But it seemed that he had misunderstood the description; He had been like a seven-year-old in a grown man's body! Shikamaru had sweat-dropped and continued to listen. Hinata had just sighed at seeing her father stroke his imaginary beard; she had been hoping he wouldn't do that.

"Hmmm…that's good. I always thought Hinata needed more male friends anyway," he had said, smiling. Shikamaru had grinned a little bit, and he had looked at Hinata, who glanced up at him and smiled.

"So, tell me about your relationship. Is it stable?" he had asked, taking out a pipe. Just when Shikamaru had thought Hiashi was a smoker, he had been dead wrong. Once Hiashi had put it in his mouth, bubbles had come floating out. Hinata had covered her face with one hand in shame while Shikamaru had been bewildered at the older man with a bubble pipe.

Neji had just stared at the scene, sweat-dropping. Temari and Hanabi had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing. Ino and Chouji had stared at the scene in disbelief, rendered speechless.

"Uh, yes, it is. Our relationship is very stable, but…what does that have to do with anything?" Shikamaru had asked. Hiashi's smile had gotten just as devious as the one Ino would usually have on her face.

"Oh, nothing, son. Just asking!," he had said, laughing. Hinata had only gotten worried. Bbecause when her father had started acting more strange than his usual self let on, she had known something bad was going to happen. Shikamaru had let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"Hm, you two must be tired of having to help Kurenai. Her being with child and all, and she's very close to exspecting that time of birth and such." he had stated, blowing more bubbles out of the pipe.

"Well… a little," Hinata had admitted.

"But it's nothing we can't handle," Shikamaru had said after her. Hiashi's smile hadjust kept on getting more devious.

"And I'm sure that you both know how to take care of thea child once she has it, yes?" he had asked. Nietherone of them had been able to comprehend to where his question was leading to the two

"Oh, of course. We made sure to be totally prepared for that," Shikamaru had answered. Hiashi had started stroking his imaginary beard again.

So... they're ready for that, huh? Well, I wasn't going to bring this up yet but... oh well, he had thought with a silly grin on his face. He had turned his body, facing away from the two chuunin. They had all watched curiously as he had searched for something. Hinata and Shikamaru had looked at each other then back at him. All eyes watching had grown large.

"Okay then. So, when do you two want to plan the wedding!?" Hiashi had asked with a piece of paper and pen in his hands. Ino's mouth had formed into a large grin, and Chouji had face-faulted.

Neji, Temari, and Hanabi had fallen into the room in one large pile of bodies. Hiashi had continued look at Hinata and Shikamaru with a grin plastered on his face.

"Did you hear that, Chouji? Marriage!" She had gasped over-dramatically. "Do you think he knows about them wanting to elope?" she had asked with stars in her eyes.

"Ino, they were not going to elope," he had tried to tell her, but she had ignored him, turning back to the scene.

"Wedding!?" Neji, Temari, and Hanabi had screamed simultaneously but Ino and Chouji. Hinata had covered her face with her hands while Shikamaru had blushed and sweat-dropped.

"Hmm…I see you guys weren't ready for that. But not to worry, I will be waiting for you answer! Take all the time you need! Now, if you excuse me, my soaps are coming on," he had said, walking out of the room, humming.

They had all stared at each other in disbelief until the three beside Hinata and Shikamru had started laughing at their expressions.

Soon after that little incident, Hinata and Shikamru had started walking from the Hyuuga compound toward his house. Hinata had walked next to him, poking her fingers together, still blushing. Shikamaru had noticed from the side and started talking.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" he had asked in a concerned voice. She hadthen turned her head to him once they stopped.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry! I should have mentioned that my father isn't... right in the head sometimes. Please forgive me," she had said, her face turning red. Shikamaru had smiled and patted her head, looking into her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, my parents are no different," he had said. Hinata had looked at him, smiling.

"Thank you, Shikamaru," she had said in a happy tone. She had felt so happy about him being such an understanding person; it made her feel warm inside.

After they had stopped talking, they had continued to walk, with Ino and Chouji close behind.

"Hee hee! This is pure gold and silver! They are inviting each other over their houses to meet their parents. It is so cute. It's like they're engaged!," she had said dreamily. Chouji had sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I can't really disagree with you since Hinata's father tried to plan their wedding," he had said as they followed behind the other two.

"Exactly! They are only a few steps away from their fiery, passionate marriage. And then they can move onto the fiery passionate love-" she had started to say until Chouji had covered his ears, humming and speed-walking ahead. Ino had face-faulted before and running to catch up.

"Hey! I know you're eager to see what happens, but let me tell you what I think they are gonna do on their honeymoon," she had said.

"No!," he had retorted back.

Shikamaru had sighed as he and Hinata continued to walk toward his house. He had had a feeling that it was going to be a long rest of the day.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata stood in front of his house, Hinata being too eager to meet his parents, and Shikamaru was too afraid that they would scare her away. He pulled out a house key, opening the front door and stepping in. Both he and Hinata pulled off their shoes. Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino, was standing at the sink, washing dishes.

"Okay, which deer is it?" she asked, not bothering to turn around. Shikamaru and Hinata sat at the dinning room table across from each other.

"It's the fawn, ma," he replied. He looked up to Hinata smiling sweetly at him. Shikamaru blushed and looked away, embarrassed that the smaller ninja was smiling at him so.

"O-oh! I'm sorry! I just though that was cute it all…" she said, poking her fingers together. Shikamaru's blushed deepened at her words. Yoshino finally turned around. When she did she gasped, her mouth hanging open.

"Holy shit, Shikamaru! You actually brought home a girl!?" she said, smiling and rushing over to observe Hinata more closely. Hinata blushed, and Shikamaru sighed.

"Yes, ma, a 'girl,'" he said, putting his head on the table. Yoshino smiled and looked at Hinata.

"Well, it's nice to meet you... uh... Hinata, isn't it?" she asked. Hinata looked up at the older woman and smiled.

"Yes, nice to meet you, too! Um, not to be rude, but... how did you know my name?" Hinata asked. Yoshino looked from her to Shikamaru and back, smiling when she glanced back at Hinata the third time.

"Well, Shikamaru talks about you all the time, so I guess it just kinda stuck. You are the only other one of Shikamaru's female friends whose name I actually remember, besides Ino," she said, walking back into the kitchen. Hinata looked at Shikamaru, blushing even harder than before. Shikamaru looked up at her, blushing himself when he caught her staring.

"Well, Shikamaru since you did bring a guest, why don't you get off your lazy ass and show her around?! I'm sure she doesn't want to stare at our dinning room and kitchen all day," she said, putting the cleaned dishes into the dish washer. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Getting up from his chair and going to Hinata, Shikamaru and grabbed her small hand.

"Come on, I'll show you around," he said, blushing. Hinata also blushed from the hand contact on hers. Shikamaru didn't have to take her hand, but some weird feeling in his body had told him to.

Ino and Chouji watched from outside the window, still taping them. Chouji was probably dehydrated from crying. He couldn't see how Ino had so much energy to go and do all of this.

"Quick! Let's go around this way. We can't miss a minute of this!," she said, dragging him along.

While Shikamaru showed Hinata around his home, he was discomforted by the feeling of someone watching them. They walked on the deck of the house, admiring nature. Hinata stopped following him and stared at the scenery. He stopped walking when he noticed that she had. He made his way back toward her, looking in the same direction as she was. He smiled at to seeing her she was so fascinated. Hinata's eyes grew larger as several deer, doe, and fawn came out from the forest to graze. Her smile grew larger, and she turned her pleading eyes to Shikamaru, who blushed at her.

He knew what she wanted to do. He guided her by hand to the field toward the animals, some lifting their heads to watch the two walk toward them. They stopped as a fawn came up to Hinata and stood right in front of her. Hinata slowly touched the young deer's head and was pleased it trusted her to. Shikamaru's smile grew as he saw how happy Hinata was.

Ino and Chouji hid in some nearby bushes, watching the scene. Ino was grinning ear to ear while Chouji was forced against his will to videotape the sequence.

"Look! This is so cute. It's like watching Snow White, except, instead of Shikamaru being the prince, he's grumpy, ha!" she said, looking through her binoculars. Chouji looked at her from behind the camera, narrowing his eyes.

_'Really? Then you must be dopey, and I must be 'Too-Tired-To -Do-This!,'_ Chouji thought.

* * *

Shikaku walked into his house, grumpy and tired. He sprawled himself onto the living room couch, not bothering to tell his wife "hello." Yoshino looked at him from the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. She walked over to him. He had his arm over his eyes, though, without lifting it, he knew she was looming over him. He sighed.

"Look, what ever it is, I didn't do it... It was Shikamaru," he said, blaming his son for nothing. Yoshino rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well, anyway, guess what!?" she said happily. He peaked with one eye from behind his arm.

"What?" he asked. She only smiled as he covered his eyes again.

"Shikamaru brought home a girl," she said while waltzing back into the kitchen.

He didn't say anything for a moment. "What?" he repeated again. She poked her head around the corner.

"Shikamaru brought home a girl!," she said again. After a minute or two of silence, she walked back in front of him.

Again, he was silent. "What?" he asked again, clearly not listening. Yoshino's eye twitched continually.

"I said, 'Shikamaru brought home a girl'!" she repeated, putting emphasis on each word. This time she stood there and waited for his answer.

"Your mama did what?" he replied again.

"Shikamaru brought home a girl, you dumbass!" she screamed, stomping back into the kitchen. Her loud yell knocked him over the couch, his legs sticking up in he air. He sighed.

"Let's hope to kami she isn't like that," he hoped.

* * *

After Shikamaru and Hinata's little rendezvous outdoors, he brought her back in and saw his father at the table, his forehead on it, also seeing that Yoshino has left the house. Hinata looked from Shikaku to Shikamaru and giggled at how similar they were.

"Yo, chief deer," Shikamaru said, leading Hinata to the table. Hinata could only smile at the name.

"Fawn," he stated, head still down. Hinata's smile grew. Shikaku lifted his head to see the two sitting in front of him.

"So, this must be the girl your mother was talking about," he said. Shikamaru blushed and shrugged. Hinata could only smile some more, blushing herself.

"Um, it's nice to meet you Nara-san," Hinata spoke lightly. He looked into her direction.

"Likewise, I'm sure," he said in his monotone voice, smiling lightly. Hinata smiled inwardly, noticing that they smiled the same way.

"So, where's Mother Psycho?" Shikamaru asked. His father sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Out scrounging Konoha for her next victim, I suppose. Said something about the supermarket. I was too tired to listen to her yammering," he said, yawning. Hinata kept herself from laughing. Shikamaru and his father were so similar in many ways; it made her giggle.

They talked idly for a while longer. Hinata was often asked some question by her father, which were somewhat similar to her own father's, except less strange. and Shikaku didn't pull out an ordinary object that had a strange attribute. It came time for Shikamaru to take Hinata home, but his father stopped them on their way through the door.

"Oh, and kids," he said. They both turned around to him. "Watch out for Yoshino. She said she wants grandkids and plenty of them." Shikamaru blushed and grabbed the similarly blushing Hinata and pulled her along to her house.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata walked in silence to her house, both still blushing. Shikamaru shook his head free from the thoughts of Nara-Hyuuga children running around.

"See what I told you," Shikamaru said, breaking the silence. Hinata looked up at him as they walked.

"What did you tell me?" she asked.

"That my parents are crazy," he said. Hinata pinched him on the arm, and his hand rushed to the area.

"Well, I think your parents are funny," she said, pouting as they stopped in front of her house. Shikamaru looked at her pouting face. He smiled at her innocent look and patted her head.

"You're just so cute, you know?" he said to her. Hinata stopped pouting to look up at him, blushing as she stared. As Shikamaru started to walk away, biding her goodbye, he felt slender arms wrap around his torso from behind. He turned his head enough to see it was Hinata. He blushed a bright red as she tightened her grip.

"Bye, Shikamaru, thank you for today," she said, looking up at his turned face. Shikamaru turned his head back around and placed his hands over hers. When he made her let go, she relented with a confused look. She let go of him and go and stood still there, confused, when he made her let go. Hinata's eyes grew large when he hugged her back. He pulled back and patted her head again, walking off before pausing to glance at her again.

"You're welcome and... thank you, too," he said. Hinata's blushed grew a darker shade of red as she turned around to head into the Hyuuga compound.

Ino and Chouji walked out from the bushes not too far from their two friends. Chouji was putting away the camera and looked up at Ino, who was standing in front of him with a creepy grin. He flinched and stared at her.

"What?" he asked as she continued to grin at him.

"Well, well, well, Chouji, ready to say you were wrong?" she asked. He just stared at her, the question flying way over his head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as they began to walk home.

"Don't play dumb! You know what I mean, dammit!" she said angrily. He flinched and moved away a few inches.

"Um... no?" he said.

"Fine, I'll remind you! Okay, you kept saying that they weren't together and stuff, right?" she asked; he nodded his head. "And then you kept saying I was wrong, right?" she asked again. He was seriously about to run home from Ino the Beast, but he wouldn't make it alive. So he just nodded his response.

"Okay. So, now, you can't prove me wrong because of the evidence on the tape! Therefore, there is no way in hell that those two aren't in a fiery, passionate relationship. End of story!" she exclaimed. This time Chouji could only sigh.

"Well, I can't say you aren't right... but they could just be working into the relationship. I still don't believe that they are together, and that's that," he explained. Ino's eye twitched and so did her mouth.

"You know what? I'm gonna prove to you once and for all that this whole time they've been in a secret relationship. Now, come on! We'll need to look over the tape and take detailed notes of what we have recorded!" she said, dragging him along again. Chouji couldn't even create the tears to cry; he just sighed and hoped the worst would be over soon.

* * *

Both in their rooms, laying on their beds, Shikamaru and Hinata sneezed at the same time again, getting the feeling of their names slipping out of another's mouth.

**I don't have much to say here, but, I will say that I'm glad you guys are loving my story!**

**(psst! Review!)**


	6. Chapter 6: Watermelon

**_

* * *

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Hello readers! Sorry I didn't update in a good 3 or more days. I was not at home, I was at an anime convention and not at my house the whole time! Please forgive me! Anyway! I will try to update when I can, it's getting hard since I have little time to write, but don't worry, I will finish what I started!

**Also! This chapter has a flashback too, just not as long as the other one!( I don't think, anyway)**

**Thoughts and flashbacks are done in italics. Thoughts during the flashbacks are in bold.**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto, but I don't, THE END! ( also, forgive me if there are wrong words, typos OR missing wrong letters, I tend to do that from typing too fast)**

* * *

Kiba paced back and forward in front of his teammate and friend, Shino, who stood against a wall, arms crossed, next to Kiba's incredibly large dog, Akamaru, who watched his master walk to and thro_._

"I DON'T GET IT! As many times as we've been out, we NEVER see Hinata anymore!" Kiba said, his arms flailing in the air and he ranted. Shino sighed.

"Maybe she finally realized that you are an idiot and managed to escape…….now why can't I do that? OH! Wait, I know! Kami hates me…." Shino said. Kiba stopped and growled, glaring at Shino.

"I SWEAR Shino, one more crack outta you and I will call an exterminator on your ass!" he said. Shino rolled his eyes, putting up his hands defensively, in a sarcastic way.

"Oh, I'm SO scared! I think I just pissed bugs.." he said. Kiba was getting ready to hit Shino until they both noticed Akamaru staring happily into the direction in front of them.

"What is it boy?" Kiba asked as he and Shino walked closer to see better. Kiba's eyes widened and Shino's eyebrows went up.

"Holy shit! Shino, LOOK! It's Hinata and who the hell is that guy standing next to her?!" he asked getting angry. Shino sweat dropped.

"It's Shikamaru, dumbass. Don't you remember?" he asked.

"I can only remember people by smell! Does it look like I'm smellin' him right now?! NO!" he said. Shino rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the two other people watching Shikamaru and Hinata.

"Hey, isn't that-" Shino started to ask until Kiba 'politely' interrupted him.

"Look at the guy! Trying to hit on poor defenseless Hinata! THE NERVE! Shino! Let's go wreak havoc on his pineapple head!" Kiba said getting ready to pounce on Shikamaru, but was stopped by Shino grabbing onto his jacket.

"WHAT?!" Kiba asked growling at Shino.

"Look…." He said pointing. Kiba squinted in the same direction Shino pointed in.

"What the hell am I looking at?! All I see is Ino and Chouji in some bushes! What's so interesting about that?!" he exclaimed. Shino glared at Kiba through his glasses.

"Look at what they are DOING you idiot." he said. Kiba then squinted even more.

"Oh! They have a video camera!……..Shino…….….why the HELL are we paying attention to_ THEM_ and not **THEM**?!" Kiba asked pointing from Ino and Chouji to Shikamaru and Hinata, who were walking away from the scene. Shino completely gave up on his teammate, but dragged him over to the spying shinobi, with Akamaru following

"Chouji! Hurry up! We might be missing the greatest date between DeerBoy and SunshineGirl in the history of dates, and YOU are wasting time by changing the tape in the video camera! Can't you change it and walk at the same time?!" She asked, nagging him. Chouji rolled his eyes, sneering while she was talking on and on. Ino stopped talking to see a shadow other than hers and Chouji's there. She looked up to see Shino, with Kiba in his grasp and Akamaru following up next to him.

"How may we help you?" Ino asked. Shino dropped Kiba on the ground and started answering.

"Well, we couldn't help but notice that you two are watching-"Shino started until Kiba interrupted.

"Shut up Shino! Let me make it simple for them and myself before you throw in your big dictionary words and shit! ANYWAY! Look, we are nosy as hell and want to know what's the deal with DeerBoy and Hinata." Kiba explained. Shino was silently glaring at Kiba and thinking of the many ways you could skin a person alive.

"AH! So you want to watch their little rendezvous too! Well, just come with us and we'll clue you in on EVRYTHING that's been going on between them!" Ino said.

'EXCELLENT" Kiba exclaimed as he and Ino linked arms and walked, following the other two shinobi ahead of them, with Akamaru following his master. ( a/n: as much as SOME of you MIGHT wish it, no, I'm not implying Kiba/Ino, though it is an interesting couple….)

"What the hell…..just.what.the.hell…."Shino said angrily, putting his hands into his pockets.

_What did I ever do to deserve this insanity?! _Chouji wondered while standing up. Ino and Kiba turned around to their teammates.

"HURRY UP!!" They yelled as they turned back around to keep walking. Both Chouji and Shino rolled their eyes and started to walk after them.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata walked next to each other, with two bags. One with sushi, ready made, and one with a watermelon in it. Kurenai had sent them, once again, to get her food, since her cravings for it kept getting weirder and more adamant. Shikamaru made a sour face as he imagined Kurenai eating sushi and watermelon at the same time. He was starting to be thankful that women were the gender that got pregnant. Hinata had carried the bag with sushi while he handled the watermelon, since it was too big for her to carry, though, previously she had tried to prove him wrong. He smiled just thinking back on it.

/_ Shikamaru and Hinata stood at the fruit market, purchasing the watermelon to take back to Kurenai. As soon as Shikamaru was going to pick it up. Hinata's hand reached for the handles of the bag first. Shikamaru looked down at Hinata in surprise._

"_I want to carry it." She said to him as she was ready to haul it._

"_Are you sure, it's pretty heavy….I mean…..It's practically half your size." he said. Hinata looked at him, knowing he was just looking out her. She just smiled at him._

"_It's alright, Shikamaru. I can do this, it won't be a problem!" She said to him. He stared at her and smiled a little._

"_Alright then, but be careful." he said. She nodded her head and got to work. She tried to use one hand to pick up the heavy fruit, but had no such luck trying to pick it up that way. Shikamaru watched her struggle with it, but not in a sadistic kind of way of course. He carefully watched her, making sure that she would experience no harm. Hinata then tried lifting it with two hands and succeeded, until she actually 'lifted' it. Once she did, it made her bend forward because of it's weight. She had it inches from the ground, struggling to keep it form touching the ground. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow._

"_You sure you don't need help?" he asked, getting ready to walk. Hinata stood pigeon toed with the bag being held with both hands. She looked up at Shikamaru and smiled._

"_No, but thank you! I'll be fine." she said as she started to 'walk' after him. Shikamaru began his slow pace with the bag of sushi in one hand which the other remained in his pocket. He stopped to see how Hinata was doing, but was surprised to see that she was several feet away from him, desperately trying to carry the watermelon with all her strength. She took one step after another, attempting to catch up to Shikamaru. _

"_Hinata…." he said. Hinata shook her head._

"_I don't need help, I can do it." she said just like a child. He shook his head slowly and continued to walk. About 5 minutes later, he turned around to see that she had not caught up with him. Once again, she claimed that she could carry it on her own. Then, Shikamaru stopped after five more minutes to see she had actually put the bag down and was standing straight up and staring at her hands. He became __anxious and walked back to her. He also looked at her hands, which were red from holding the heavy bag. He sat down the sushi and took her hands in his. Shikamaru looked down at her open palms and she looked up at his face and blushed deeply. He then turned her hands back over with the palms facing down and made her hands point up. Her face got even redder when he started to gently message her palms with his thumbs. Hinata looked down at her feet, a blush so red on her face that even without the byakugan it was visible from far away places._

_Shikamaru spent three minutes massaging her palms until she caught his attention._

"_U-um….Shikamaru…..they don't hurt anymore……" She said, trying to resist a stutter. Shikamaru shook his head from his trance of trying to make her hands stop hurting. He looked down at her from her palms and quickly let them go. _

_Hinata started to poke her fingers together in embarrassment, even though in her mind she admitted that it felt nice. Shikamaru then held the sushi bag out in front of her and she stared at it, until she realized he was giving her the smaller bag. She slowly put out her hand and took the bag from him, both blushing while she did. Then after the wait, they started walking again._

"_U-um……thank you…." Hinata said quietly. Shikamaru looked at her and looked away, flushed._

"_Err……you're welcome." he said, both of them feeling rather uncomfortable about the previous situation. They continued to walk along to Kurenai's house, carrying her prey with them./_

Shikamaru, smirked thinking about it. He wasn't so much embarrassed about touching her hands. He was more excited about it, ever since he started to feel funny when he was around Hinata. These weird feelings didn't start until maybe a few days ago, after he took her home from visiting his parents. When she had hugged him, his heart sped up several miles beyond the norm. Even when her name was mentioned it sped up. He wasn't confused about his feelings of course. He did care about Hinata, but now, he was wondering if he cared about her more than just a friend and whether she felt the same. So, starting this day, he had decided earlier, he would watch her and himself to see if it were true about their would-be feelings for each other.

Once they had turned another corner, they had reached the street of Kurenai's house and started heading toward her home.

* * *

Following them close behind, Ino, Kiba, Chouji and Shino were stalking behind a corner, not too far from the house. Ino and Kiba had ran across the way and jumped into some bushes, with Akamaru running after them as well. They then motioned for Shino and Chouji to follow. Shino and Chouji both rolled their eyes, but started walking toward the bushes. They started whispering, since Kiba and Ino seem to have ears like bats.

'This is so stupid…..If I could I'd drop kick them both.' Shino said. Chouji nodded.

'Of course, if Ino wasn't such and beast AND a girl, I would too.' Chouji replied. Once they also ducked into the bushes, the conversation commenced.

"Okay! Here's the plan, we are gonna have to hide up in that tree over there." Ino pointed out. " Then from there, we will video tape the scene of our two love birds!" Ino said. Kiba's eyes got wide.

"Love birds?! They're already going steady?!" He screamed. Ino shook her head happily. Shino and Chouji silently protested about them not actually being 'together'.

"Did you hear that Shino! He's already got her in his pineapple-like clutches!" Kiba said as the four of them started to walk toward the tree as Shikamaru and Hinata made their way closer to Kurenai's home.

* * *

Once inside, Kurenai had practically forgotten that Hinata and Shikamaru were even there and just grabbed the food from them. Shikamaru and Hinata stared at her in fear as she practically decimated the tray of the sushi. Only did she bother to leave 'some' of the sushi for the two chuunin, who backed away once she obliterated the watermelon, using her 'nails' to chop the poor defenseless fruit in half, perfectly down the middle. I her wake, she left them barely any sushi and half of the water melon, the other half was bare, except for all the seeds she left out, which where stacked on top of each other on the bowl shaped, empty half of the watermelon. She politely took a napkin and dabbed her mouth and slowly got up, yawning.

"Well! That was good, ne?" She asked them. They just stared at her with dread on their faces. She then turned her head toward the clock on her wall.

"Oh! Well, listen, you can finish the food, I'm going to take a nap. Oh! And, could you was the dishes for me? I'd appreciate it, thanks!" she said as she walked down the hallway to her bedroom.

Once Kurenai left, the tension in he room went down and Shikamaru and Hinata went into a state of comfort. Hinata to initiative took off her sandals, then walked over to the sink, rolling her sleeves up along the way. Shikamaru watched her walk and followed suit. They had decided to eat the food later, so they put it into the fridge.

They both started to wash the dishes at the same time, since Kurenai was feeding them sometimes as well, and that she herself ate for ten people on her own, since she was with child. While washing and stacking the dishes, Hinata and Shikamaru ended up picking the same dish, both lifting it out of he water, hands touching. Both blushed as they looked at their hands and Shikamaru let it go first and Hinata stacked it next to her, since she was next to the dish washer. They could barely look at each other just from that moment.

Several times during the wash, their fingers would brush up against each other and once they tried to separate quickly in the water, their hands would bump random dishes, making a slight muffled noise, making them blush further.

* * *

Outside of the window of dinning room, the other four chuunin were able to see Shikamaru and Hinata clearly enough to watch them with ease. Ino and Kiba both just so happened to have binoculars, so they both watched Shikamaru and Hinata. Chouji had the camera rolling, while conveniently, Shino just so happened to have his digital camera and was forced by Kiba to take pictures of anything that seemed important., with the flash off of course.

"Oh! LOOK! They look like they're married! Washing the dishes together! You better be getting all of this Chouji!!" she warned. Kiba growled.

"Look at that pineapple headed villain! He's taking advantage of our dear Hinata by 'accidentally' touching her hand while washing dishes! The nerve! You better be snapping pictures Shino! We have to expose his wicked operation to seduce Hinata!" Kiba said. Chouji and Shino rolled their eyes, and both decided that they're teammates might have been separated at birth by some odd mishap at the hospital.

* * *

Once they were done washing the dishes, Hinata preceded by putting them into the dish washer. Shikamaru stood a little behind her, handing them to her, while at the same time, Hinata was the one thinking over what had been going on between them that time.

_I don't understand…..why do I feel so……strange around Shikamaru? _Hinata wondered as she put the last dish into the washer and turned it on. While she was turning around she had slipped on a wet spot on the floor and was about to fall. She made a loud squeak and Shikamaru turned around, catching her in time. He caught her, breaking her fall, but they ended up in a very compromising position on the floor. Hinata looked in front of her, seeing a chin. Her face went pale and she sat up, straddling Shikamaru. She was blushing so hard and was too embarrassed to move off of him. She continued to stare down at him, her whole face lit up bright red.

Shikamaru rubbed his head, sitting up on his elbows. He opened one eye and froze. He opened the other and stared at Hinata, who was still on top of him, staring back.

* * *

Ino's face was stuck on happy, while Kiba's was stuck on 'kill-the-Hinata-seducing-pineapple-head'. Chouji was still rolling the camera, his mouth hung open and his eyes wide. Shino's finger was glued to the button, snapping several pictures of the scene in the house, his mouth also hung open and his glasses had cracked.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata had continued to stare at each other, until Hinata started to feel woozy. Shikamaru thought she was going to move off of him, but all she did was faint and fall into him, her upper body on his. Her forehead made contact with the crook of his neck and she was limp on him. He had started to blush even harder, since her chest was right on his, which was, in his case, very uncomfortable. Now was the time , he had decided, to get up and move her to the couch, before Kurenai would come into the kitchen to see them tangled up on each other. Once he was off he floor, he had her in his arms. He carried her like a child to the couch, sitting on it as he tried to lay her down without dropping her. Once her body made contact with the couch. He breathed out in relief, until he realized that she had fallen asleep and was clinging to him. He started to panic, since she wouldn't let go of his vest. He decided that the quickest way to get out of this was to probably lay with her until her grip loosened, how ever long it would take. He then slid under her light weight body and had her head on his chest ,under his chin and put his arms around her. As soon as he did, he could feel her smiling and he blushed as she squished herself into him more.

Shikamaru sighed, he could never figure out how he got himself into messes like this, but he smiled anyway, happy that he could hold her in that situation.

_Well, I guess I can say that maybe…….maybe I do….love…….her……. _He thought until sleep started to take him over. He yawned and started to close his eyes.

* * *

Inos' eyes had shown with stars and light, while Kiba's had fire and brimstone. Shino and Chouji waited for the yelling to start.

"That was BEAUTIFUL! Shikamaru saved his damsel from distress! How romantic! Oh, I wonder what they are doin' on that couch!!" Ino said, waggling her eyebrows. Kiba snarled.

"That raunchy bastard probably planted that water there anyway! As for the couch, they better be whistling DIXIE! He must think he's pretty slick! Well, he's not slick enough for KIBA INUZUKA!!" he howled. Shino rolled his eyes and Chouji rolled his as well. As soon as Kiba and Ino started talking, the weight at the end of the branch could not support the two and they fell to the ground. Akamaru ran for cover once they landed and came back out the check on the two. Shino and Chouji just busted out laughing as they jumped down to see if they were okay.

* * *

Kurenai raised her arms as she yawned, walking into the kitchen. She went in, never noticing the two sleeping chuunin as she got a glass of kool aid. Once she started to pass them, she stopped and noticed. Her eyes were wide at once, but she smiled seeing how cute the looked. She went into the hallway closet and grabbed a blanket and throwing it over them. She turned off the light of the living room and went outside onto the balcony, but stopped before she sat down as she saw the weird positions of two shinobi who seemed to have fallen from great heights with a giant white dog and two other ninja near them.

* * *

**AH! This took TOO long to write! I am TERRIBLY sorry for the wait! I was taking to long with my homework and to top if off, I wasn't even at home this week end period! Also! I didn't finish this chap until a few days to today AFTER the convention!……or something that sounds just as complicated!**

**I hope that when I work on the next chapter I won't take as long ever again! I felt like I was letting you guys down! Please forgive me! **

**Also, no, Kiba doesn't have a crush Hinata, he just likes her like a sister. ( sorry Kiba/Hina children, don't worry, I don't have anything against Kiba/Hina! I happen to think it is cute)**

**Anyway! I will try to update again ASAP! I hoped that this wasn't too short for you all and that you enjoyed this chapter and please! REVIEW! Ja' Ne! **


	7. Chapter 7: Starfish

**WAH CHAH! Chapter 7 WHOO! Sorry for the delay, my lights got cut off and some other crap. But anyway! Before we start I would just like to say a GIGANTOID THANK YOU to all who have read, reviewed and faved! I love you guys so much, it makes me so happy!**

**OH! READ PLEASE! : I bet you noticed I've changed my penname from 'KunoichiKitsune' to 'orenji-Dae' ! It's because I just didn't like my first one. ( i know, poitnless to bring that up, but who cares?!)**

**Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter and some more!**

**IMMA CHARGIN MAH DISCLAIMER!!: I do not, and probably never will own Naruto or the characters with in (takes a nice walk of the stage with a spotlight following her)**

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata had a hard time looking at each other without blushing for the first half of the day, though, they got over it soon enough. Waking up on top of somebody was not the way Hinata wanted to wake up, especially if that person had a weird impression on your feelings. After the incident, they had tried hard not to even make any sort of bodily contact, though it seemed hard for them to, since they had to help Kurenai in buying baby things because Anko and Shizune had work to do. There was one surprise that day; they found out that Kurenai wasn't the only pregnant kunoichi in Konoha and the she also wasn't the only aggressive one either. There had been a sale on baby pajamas and it became a complete war once it was announced over the intercom. Hinata and Shikamaru had never seen so many pregnant women run so fast. Oh, but wait, they were pregnant NINJA women, so they figured it could count for something.

After the mini-war In the mall of Konoha, Kurenai had made it safely back home with the last pair of pajamas, and lets just say that she won that war AND the battle all together. As of now, Shikamaru waited in the tea shop for Hinata, since she had to go home for the moment because Hiashi had called her over to explain the wedding plans he came up with himself.

Having technically 'slept' together didn't bother them as much, except for the sometimes awkward silence between them. Shikamaru was currently waiting on Hinata, his tea and playing sudoku and having an easy time with it as well. Though, not to his knowledge, across the street from the shop in some bushes, once again, sat Ino and Chouji along with Shino and Kiba. Once again, Kiba and Ino peered through two sets of binoculars.

"Che! Look at him! Sittin' there all pineapple like…..he's probably planning his next dastardly deed to inflict on poor Hinata right now!" Kiba said growling and snarling.

"Oh! Just look at him! Waiting on his little sunflower! How precious!" Ino squealed and giggled. Shino and Chouji were both just plain sick. Even though the two chuunin other were watching Hinata and Shikamaru for their own reasons, they were still there for the same one ; to keep tabs on their business.

* * *

Hinata walked up the road until she had reached the tea shop, she smiled happily, blushing, seeing that Shikamaru sat there, waiting on her.

_Oh….I haven't felt this way since I used to like Naruto…..but with him…..I think that….maybe, it's more than just some grade school crush………_ She said as she took a seat in front of him. He looked up when he heard the chair moving. He smiled his regular lazy smile when he saw her. He closed the puzzle book and set the pen down, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"So, what are we in for today, Hinata?" He asked still smiling. Hinata kept staring at him, her eyes locked onto his face. He raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to wave his hand in front of her face. Hinata snapped out of her trance.

"Huh?! What happened?' she asked. She had been starring at his face when he talked, captivated by his eyes. Who knew the lazy chuunin had a face handsome enough to captivate a Hyuuga? Shikamaru smirked. He thought is was cute, seeing her so confused.

"I was asking you what do you have in mind to do today." He said sitting back. Hinata let out a small "oh" and starting thinking about what they could do.

* * *

Although the scene before them was nothing shy of normal, Ino and Kiba had the tendency to take things out of proportion and exaggerate it into chaos.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?! That dirty deer was trying to hypnotize her! That's it, I'm going over there and raisin' a mess of HELL on his pineapple head!" Kiba said as Shino tried to calm him down. Ino on the other hand wasn't even paying attention.

"OH! They are just so CUTE together! And these dates of theirs never cease to amaze me! This better than my afternoon soaps! CHOUJI! You damn well better be getting all of this!" She said. Chouji rolled his eyes. To him, and Shino too, this was getting ridiculous and out of hand, though, he knew that trying to stop Ino would be like trying to stop a herd of angry bulls coming at you head on, so he wasn't going to risk anything that might have to involve his life.

* * *

"Um! I think I know what we could do today!" She said. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. Hinata smiled.

"Anything!" She said happily. Shikamaru was confused, not anything else but confused.

"Uh….Hinata? Anything? I fail to understand…." he said leaning closer, arms on the table, next to his half gone tea.

"Well, to be honest, I can't really think of anything that we can do, so I just said what ever came to mind, but! When I said 'anything' I also meant to say that maybe…..maybe we could do anything that we see that might be fun! You know?" she said. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in approval of her idea. It worked for him anyway.

"Heh, why not. " he said as they both started to get up. They walked out of the tea shop in the opposite direct that she came from. As soon as they were out of clear earshot, Ino and Kiba had jumped out from the bushes. Ino was just on air about the whole thing, but with Kiba, he was about to blow chunks……of anger.

"AHAHAHA! This is just TOO GOOD! They're probably running off to spread their fiery, passionate LOVE!" Ino said. Kiba just growled thinking about it.

"ARGH! He's probably going to take her back to his pineapple lair to take advantage of her!" Oh this was rich. Shino and Chouji were going to make a run for it, but were foiled in their attempt when Kiba and Ino yelled for them to hurry up.

* * *

As they walked, Hinata had spotted a photo booth, which had excited her very much. She had reached out and grabbed his hand, dragging him toward it. They both blushed from her bold actions. Once inside, Hinata sat on the outside, while he was on the inside. Once they dispensed the money, the pictures were being taken. The first was a regular picture of them smiling, Shikamaru actually giving out his silly grin in this one. The second was of them with their tongues out at the camera. The third was of them covering each others ears, while facing each other. The fourth had held onto the boldness of Hinata; it showed Shikamaru facing the camera, eye's like a deer's in headlights, as Hinata planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Though, the fifth had shown Shikamaru making a come back, as it captured his return kiss on her forehead. Once they were out of he booth, Hinata had grabbed the pictures, laughing at the first 3 and blushing at the last two, Shikamaru had walked out, still blushing. They had started to walk once he came out, continuing to talk.

Ino and Kiba's heads came from inside a set of bushes, with Chouji's and Shino following, along with Akamaru's. Ino had a sad look on her face, while Kiba, obviously, had the 'murderous intent' look going on.

"Aw! We didn't get to see them taking pictures! But not seeing it makes it all the more fun!! Chouji! Keep rolling! No matter what problem we may face, the ShikaHina watch will never be stopped!!" She said smiling evilly. Chouji was so fed up he wanted to throw the camera at her head, knowing fully well that it could result in his demise. Kiba ground his teeth so hard it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"GRAAAH! Dammit! What if he was feelin' her up in that booth!? This is just not workin'! Shino! I am deeply ashamed of you! Slacking off on our job of protecting Hinata! FOR SHAME!" he said pointing at Shino. Shino had such a large vain on his forehead you could swear it was visible form behind his hood.

Shino grumbled various curses and profanities under his breath, imagining his bugs taking 'good' care of his teammate for him.

Ino and Kiba grabbed Shino and Chouji as they walked out to follow the two, Akamaru following of course.

* * *

They continued to walk about the village, trying anything they saw. Even the dreaded natto, which later on, they had decided never to eat again. Shikamaru sat on a bench, waiting for Hinata to come from the bathroom in the restaurant they were just in. He took this time alone to contemplate.

_Hmmm……now a days, I can clearly tell she has feelings for me, but, the only thing that keeps me pondering is how deeply she cares about me….I'll have to keep watching her……I suppose the way I've seen her act before today, means that it's more than a crush, but she is fumbling with her feelings, probably unsure of my feelings for her. I can't just out and tell her I love her, it would be too corny and I have many scenarios going on in my head about how the end might turn out……heh, I knew love was troublesome for a teenager, but I didn't think it'd be this complicated… _Shikamaru thought, while looking up toward the sky, seeing the cloud slowly crawling across the sky.

Hinata was washing her hands in the restroom sink, staring at the rushing water. She too, was thinking.

_I know I love Shikamaru but…..I don't feel the same around him as I felt around Naruto, I mean, of course I LIKED Naruto, but my feelings weren't that strong….but now…. My feelings for Shikamaru are WAY different from the ones I had for Naruto…..but….I am so confused about this…… _Hinata thought as she dried her hands and walked out of the restaurant. She walked outside to see Shikamaru sitting on the bench, head tilted towards the sky. She casually walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to her, then got up, stretching and yawning. Hinata began to smile, giggling. He looked at quizzically after putting his arms down.

"What's so funny? There something on my face?" he asked. Hinata shook her head.

"No, it's just that you looked so adorable yawning like that….I couldn't help my self." Shikamaru could only blush. Though the two of them knew that they had some sort of strong feelings for each other, what they didn't know was that the entire time, they were practically flirting with each other, unaware of their own actions. As soon as they started to walk off, the 'ShikaHina brigade' stepped from the behind the bushes.

"Ha! That may not have been the fiery passion I wanted it to be, but it was enough for me!" Ino said smiling. Kiba's eye nearly flew out of his head.

"What fiery passion?!" he asked turning his head toward Ino. As soon as Ino turned her head with a mischievous grin on her face, Chouji knew all hell was let loose.

"OH YEAH! I didn't tell you about all the bumpin' and grindin' did I ?" Ino asked.

"NO! Tell me!" Kiba said sarcastically but still angrily.

Chouji had just done the palm to face action, shaking his had form side to side. Shino looked at Chouji and Chouji reassured him that Ino was just exaggerating the innocence of the situations between Shikamaru and Hinata.

" HE WHAT?!" He screamed. Ino smiled.

"Yes, yes! Right in front of Kurenai's door too! " Ino said. Though Ino was telling the truth, she still exaggerated the incident by making it sound like a shoujo manga. Though Kiba did listen, he didn't really LISTEN to all the words, since all he heard was ; Shikamaru……Hinata…….. Intimate holding…..in arms……affectionate look in eyes…….fiery passion……., in which all those words had him imagining the OPPOSITE of what really happened between them.

"OH HELL NO! Shino! Did you hear that! Shikamaru has already pealed the skin of our precious apple! IN FRONT OF KURENAI'S HOUSE!" He screamed, anger rising on his face. Shino now knew what actually happened, and couldn't believe……wait, yes he could believe that Kiba would take it the WRONG way and make it seem like it was out of this world and even worse. He also couldn't believe that Kiba compared Hinata to an apple……..

"Uh, Kiba, they didn't actually--" He started until Kiba interrupted him again.

"Not now Shino! We have to stop PineappleDeerMan and save Hinata from being further corrupted by him! Your big fancy dictionary words won't be the only thing to stop him!" He said grabbing Ino by her arm and running to catch up with Shikamaru and Hinata. Chouji and Shino both sweat dropped and ran after Ino and Kiba.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata had decided to take a load off and travel to the lake, which this time Shikamaru had suggested. Shikamaru and Hinata had walked along the little beach along the lake, as the sun was starting to set in the distance. Hinata had spent that time picking up shells and putting them in the pockets of her hoodie. ( a/n : yeah, on my beach near that lake, there are shells!) Shikamaru smiled when she would spot one and run toward it before the tide would wash it away. When she walked back to him, she was staring into her hands. He bend down curiously to her level, looking as well. She then looked up, their faces so close their noses touched. He quickly came back up and looked away, blushing, while Hinata looked at the ground, blushing. Then Hinata looked up at him and took his hand, dropping what she found in it. He turned his attention back into his direction and into his hand. She had found a dried up starfish, which was almost as big as his hand. He looked up at her, and she was blushing. Then Hinata held up with her thumb and pointer finger, another starfish, which was almost as big as her hand.

"Starfish?" he asked curiously. Hinata nodded her head and smiled.

"Yes! See, the big one is you and the little one is me! And when I found them, they were together!" she said. Shikamaru had blushed and smiled. He put the starfish into his pocket, keeping his hand there and patted her head.

"Hmm….well, I guess I can say you moved up from cute to…." he said pausing while blushing.

"Adorable……" he said. Hinata's face automatically went up to a whole new shade of red that moment. In the bushes, of course, Ino was chanting 'kiss' for the second time and Kiba was getting ready to launch a full scale assault on the Nara, but was held back by Shino and by Chouji with one hand, since he was afraid that if he stopped filming, Ino would unleash all kinds of hell onto him, which his what he didn't want. Shikamaru blushed as Hinata kept staring at him, her face so red it could be spotted from Suna.

_Ahh…..that was not the word I was trying to say, but I don't want any awkwardness in our relationship if I told her she was beautiful…..especially since I don't know the extent of her feelings yet…. _He thought, his blush still showing. Then he looked back down to Hinata. She wasn't as red as before, but she looked as if she was on the verge on fainting. He reached out to touch her shoulder. And shook her lightly. She came from her trance and shook her head.

"O-oh! I'm terribly sorry for spacing out on you…." she said. Shikamaru smiled. Hinata looked up at him.

"And……um…..you are…--" she started to say, pausing as well.

"Quite handsome….." she said blushing, but it not being as intense as before. Shikamaru had started blushing again. Ino was walking on water, while Kiba's anger was boiling it into condensation. Shino and Chouji……well…..they were playing Uno while Chouji was still filming. While Shikamaru and Hinata were too busy trying not to blush themselves into that permanent red color, a tidal wave (a/n: yeah, a huge one on a lake) had come up and attacked them. Ino and Kiba stared with wide eyes as the water cam crashing down on the two. Chouji and Shino, of course were still playing Uno, not having a care in the world.

As soon as the water had receded, Ino had to keep her self from squealing out loud and Shino unconsciously reached one hand out and clamped it over Kiba's mouth to keep him from screaming and running over to kill Shikamaru. Shikamaru, now terribly wet, opening his eyes, coughing out water. He sat up on his knees and was looking down and his face flushed. He was on top of Hinata. The same situation at occurred at Kurenai's house had repeated itself on the beach, only he wasn't straddling her. Once Hinata opened her eyes, her face got so red it glowed as the day started turning into night. They stayed that way until they realized their position and Shikamaru jumped off of her and Helped her up. Both of them now wet, had stood there, not looking at each other. Hinata looked at her hand to still see if her starfish was there and smiled to see it was. Shikamaru felt on his pocket, happy to see his was too.

Once the tension had died down, Shikamaru started to walk Hinata home. Once they had left the beach, The ShikaHina brigade had jumped out from the behind the bushes. Ino had died and gone to heaven, and as for Kiba well……his anger had become a weapon of mass destruction and he had homicide on thebrain. Well, neither Chouji or Shino won the game because Akamaru did. They were so bored they let the oversized dog play with them, which was a huge mistake. Once Ino had collected herself, she stood there with stars and rainbows in her eyes.

"Hee hee hee! Twice in one week! I'm loving this! " Ino said twirling around. Kiba was currently planning Shikamaru's funeral and Chouji and Shino? Well…..they were inching themselves away from their psycho teammates, but were stopped once Ino and Kiba realized that Shikamaru and Hinata had left, so they grabbed them and ran in the same direction as them.

* * *

Once they arrived in front of Hinata's home, they turned to each other and said their goodnights, though, before they did they, they looked at a window to her house and saw that Hiashi, Neji and Hanabi were all watching them from behind the blinds. Once spotted, the three Hyuuga quickly retreated from sight. Hinata sighed and Shikamaru sweat dropped. AS soon as Hinata turned back around, they stared at each other.

"Well, Hinata, I'll see you tomorrow." Shikamaru said, putting his hands in his pocket, feeling the starfish in one of them. Hinata played with hers in her hands,

"Yes, of course!" she said. Both of them were so embarrassed that they could barely get any words out.

Once again, behind some bushes, The ShikaHina brigade was spying on the two chuunin, though, only two of them were even interested in the so called 'romance' of the two. Ino had decided to take over with the camera work that time, freeing Chouji from it, since she swore he was holding it crocked, but he didn't care. Kiba was glaring daggers, steak knives and bombs at Shikamaru, but was held back from running other there and tackling Shikamaru by Shino, who brought a collar and a leash to keep Kiba from doing so. This time, Shino and Chouji were playing regular ol' cards instead of Uno, hoping that Akamaru wouldn't win this time.

Hinata had broke the silence and spoke up, grabbing Shikamaru attention.

" Today was fun…..I'm glad we went to the beach…." she said blushing. Shikamaru started blushing so much now a days, they he and Hinata had the same tint.

"Yeah it was…….thanks for the starfish…" he said back. Hinata blushed even further, looking at her feet. She quietly mumbled 'thank you', but it was loud enough for him to hear. She was taken by surprise when he had lifted her face up and gently kissed her forehead. Hinata looked at his face, and saw his blush. She then boldly leaned up and kissed his cheek and they stood back, blushing even more. After they regained their composure, they said their goodbyes. He watched Hinata go inside and she watch from the window as he walked around the corner. Once both shinobi were out of sight. The other five shinobi came out from the bushes. Ino had a smile larger than her face and Kiba was so mad he was foaming at the mouth.

"I can't WAIT till tomorrow! This is like one of those old epic love stories, except we are witnessing it!" Ino said cheerfully.

"SHINO! What is wrong with us!? Have we gotten so rusty that we can't even shield Hinata from his seducing ways! WE need to get back into shape!!" Kiba said to him. Shino raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, look, there might be something wrong with YOU, but me? I'm completely SANE. I'm going home." Shino said walking away.

"Yeah, I'm going home too. See ya! " Chouji said walking away as well. Then, while cuddling the camera, Ino skipped her way on home, then Kiba and Akamaru went home as well.

* * *

Once Hinata was away from the window, she had gone into the kitchen, since it was her turn to make dinner. Her father slowly rolled up from behind the other side of the counter. Once Hinata looked up from making the food, she nearly jumped through the ceiling.

"AHH!" She said jumping back. Hiashi stood up and had a grin on his face just as crazy as Ino's.

"Oh, father you scared me!" she said.

"Sorry about that Hinata!" he said smiling. " So! I see you and Shikamaru spent to day together again!" he said. Hinata nodded.

"Oh, yes, and we had so much fun!" she said smiling. Hiashi's grin got larger. Hinata raised an eyebrow as she saw his hand on top of what looked like a catalog.

"Father…..what is that?" she asked, which was a big mistake, since his grin got sillier. Then Neji and Hanabi had peaked form behind a nearby corner and then walked in.

"Oh Nothing" he said looking around until he looked right at her again."Just a wedding kimono catalog!!" He said shoving it in her face. Hinata was scared now.

"H-huh?!" she said.

"Oh come now Hinata! Before we set up a reservation for the wedding you just HAVE to pick out a nice kimono for it! Now, personally ,I like this one!" he said pointing to one that had extremely long sleeves and other crazy stuff attached to it. Hinata's eye got wide. What was worse, was that Neji and Hanabi got into the mix.

"Onee-chan! You HAVE to let me be the flower girl! And I'd better get a huge piece of cake too!" Hanabi said.

"Tell Shikamaru he'd better make me one of his best men." Neji said. Hinata sighed. She wondered if Shikamaru was in a situation like this as well.

* * *

Once Shikamaru got home, he opened the door and kicked off his shoes. Once he passed his father, who took up the whole couch, he sat in the La-Z-Boy and reclined in it. His mother was currently in the washroom. There was weird, awkward silence while they were in the room. Shikamaru was getting weirded out , since his father was staring at him.

"What?!" he asked.

"Nothing, but I was wondering……" Shikaku started. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" Shikamaru asked.

"……….is she pregnant yet? I told you your mom wanted grandkids didn't I?" he asked. Shikamaru clutched the arms of he chair so hard he almost put holes in them.

"What?! Where did you something that asinine from?! We're like, fifteen! What the hell wrong with you?!" He asked. Although, Shikamaru does want to have his kids with Hinata, but not while they are this young! His father shrugged. Then, they heard a noise that sounded like running and then they saw Hoshino standing in the doorway, catching her breath. She ran al l the way from the washroom because she heard the words 'pregnant' and 'grandkids'.

"What's this I hear about grandkids!?" She asked looking at her husband, who just pointed at Shikamaru.

"Really, Shikamaru?!" She said. Shikamaru thought he was going to die now. Until his mother asked what he didn't want to hear again.

"So is she pregnant yet?!" she asked. Shikamaru wanted to cry now. He sighed and did the palm to face action.

Both he and Hinata were pelted with questions about what all they did that day. They bother had managed to escape to their rooms. Even then, they though about each other and what the next day together would bring them.

* * *

**AHH! Chapter 7 is done! And I finally got back to my computer, since I took it from my house and moved it to my sisters!**

**Anyway, I went to go see Iron man, and it was AWESOME! Anyway, until I post up chapter eight! JA'NE!**


	8. Chapter 8: Bad News, Books and Flies

**Alright! Chapter 8! I'm happy that I even got this far without getting writers block! Which is something I seriously don't need right now! But I will admit that I had trouble with this chapter. Anyway, on with the story! ( if there are typos or misplaced words, IGNORE them please, i'm too tired to even correct them right now!)**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto but if I did, ShikaHina would most definitely happen.**

* * *

Shikamaru waited at the teashop for Hinata, slowly drinking his tea. Hinata had been called away to the Hokage tower by Tsunade, along with Shino and Kiba. He hadn't been there long, but he was getting anxious. He leaned back in his chair, his thoughts wondering.

_Hmmm…….I'm not entirely sure, but I have a hunch that her feelings are the same as mine, but still, she isn't an easy person to read as people make her out to be. I probably should tell her how I feel, but…….damn…….this is so troublesome_ .He thought furrowing his eyebrows. While he was deep in thought, Ino and Chouji hid in the same bushes across from the tea shop.

"Ugh! Where is that girl?! Can't she see that she's keeping her baby's daddy waiting?!" she said looking through her binoculars. Chouji was sitting, eating his chips and ignoring Ino. Since Hinata was not there, he didn't have to videotape anything……yet.

Shikamaru had considered getting up and going to go pick up Hinata, but as soon as he walked out of the tea shop, he saw her walking toward him slowly. His face automatically lit up and a smile graced his face. As soon as Ino realized what he was looking at, she violently shook Chouji.

"HEY! Get the camera! Hurry up before we miss this Kodak moment!!" she said. Now, understand that Chouji was as nice as nice gets, but he was fed up and was tempted to throw Ino clear across the village, but then again, throwing Ino would be like trying to attract an angry rhino. As soon as he had the video camera up, Ino was smiling like an idiot. Shikamaru walked up to Hinata, who stopped once he was in front of her. He frowned when he looked at her because of the sad look on her face and that she didn't look at his face. He took his hand and lifted up her face gently and her big eyes looked into his.

"Hinata, what's wrong?" he asked. Hinata stared at him and her eyes held eyes held a look of sadness. His eyes got wide as she did this and he followed her as she took his hand and led him away from the area. Ino cursed while Chouji happily put down the camera. Amazingly, Ino apparently SAW him do it with her head in another direction.

"What the hell are you doing?! Put the camera back up!!" she screamed as they started to walk from behind the bushes. Chouji was having several scenarios playing in his head about Ino being abducted by anything that would mean her being away from him. Once they began to follow the other two chuunin, they had bumped into Shino and Kiba.

"HEY! Kiba-baby!" Ino said. Kiba grinned like there was no tomorrow just as Ino. Shino and Chouji rolled their eyes.

"Ino-baby!" he said back. Oh the agony. As soon as they stopped their happy little reunion they went straight to yelling, screaming, demanding and commanding Shino and Chouji to follow and to not screw this up. (a/n: hmm?! Possible KibaIno?! Yeah, I semi lied,I might be implying that… but I might not! Oh well, that just means more crack!)

* * *

As soon as Hinata was done leading Shikamaru around, he noticed they were at the bridge. As soon as they stopped walking, she let go of his hand and turned to face him. He was still frowning because she continued to have that sad look upon her face. He leaned down to her face this time, to be on her level. He could see the hurt in her eyes and the sadness.

"Hinata, tell me why you're so sad." He said, putting his had on her cheek, his thumb softy caressing it. She leaned her head into his hand and closed her eyes and sighed.

"I-I'm sorry, Shikamaru……I didn't mean to make you worry like that." She said softly. Shikamaru's frown softened into a sad smile. Hinata lifted her head and opened her eyes.

"Now then, can you tell me what's with the sad face?" he asked. Hinata exhaled and gathered her courage.

"Well………um……Tsunade-sama had called us up to the Hokage tower and……she had assigned us a mission …" she said. Shikamaru's eyes got large.

_No wonder she's so sad…..she doesn't want to leave ……_ Shikamaru thought. Although he was on the verge o blushing by just thinking about it, he was too busy trying to keep Hinata from being sad about it.

"How long is the mission?" he asked.

"A week…." She said. Shikamaru frowned again. He wasn't the least bit satisfied with the length of the mission, but he was glad that is wasn't a month. He sighed and put his hand on her head. And she looked up at him, he was smiling. She stared at him until her lip trembled again and this time tears came to her eyes. Shikamaru's eyes got wide. Hinata took her sleeves and started to wipe the tears away, but they just kept coming. Shikamaru then moved her arms out of the way and uses his fingers to brush them off. Hinata stared right as him, a blush on her face. After her tears seemed to cease, he pulled her into a warm embrace.

Over in some nearby bushes, sat Ino, Chouji, Shino and Kiba, who were, once again, stalking the other two ninja. Ino was rolling around in the grass happily and Shino was holding back Kiba who was going to terminate Shikamaru, or at least attempt to. Chouji was forced, against his will mind you, to video tape the scene. Ino then jumped up next to him and Shino, her eyes sparkling.

"This is so romantically magical!" she said sniffling. Chouji rolled his eyes and Shino was too busy being disgusted as Kiba had purposefully drooled on him to make him let him go.

"My ass! That creep has his hooves all over her!!" he said.

Shikamaru rested his chin on her head and she relaxed in his arms and closed her eyes. He started to smooth his hand over her hair, calming her down. As soon as Hinata was calm, he let her go and she stepped back a few inches.

"Thank you….Shikamaru….." she said smiling at him. He smiled back.

"Listen, even though you may be sad, please don't cry. I really don't like to see you sad, Hinata." He said as he went back to caressing her cheek. Hinata closed her eyes and smiled.

"I'm sorry, I just overreacted because I'll be gone for a week and I felt like I' be leaving you all alone….." she admitted. Shikamaru was torn between being surprised and excited, though he'd feel the same way she would about 

having to leave your close friend alone while you went on a week long mission. Shikamaru sighed and smiled a little bit, patting her on the head.

"Come on, let's go." He said. Hinata cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He said smiling. Hinata blushed a little, smiling and walking faster to catch up with him. As soon as they left the bridge, the ShikaHina brigade came stumbling out from behind that lone bush. Ino had happy tears in her eyes from all the 'fiery passion' she was able to witness and Kiba was……..well, Kiba was on hopped up on a dangerous combination of animalistic anger and primal fury. Shino and Chouji on the other hand were completely bored, but still sane among other things.

"I have never SEEN so much drama since General Hospital!! Oh! I'll NEVER get tired of this!! CHOUJI! I hope you caught that precious moment!" she said. That was the one thing Chouji never wanted to hear, and it only meant that he'd be stuck with filming everything the other two shinobi did until the both of them probably died. And if you guessed right, yes, Chouji was indeed crying, to upset to be angry at her yelling. Shino on the other hand was now wishing he had done away with Kiba years ago, now regretting not doing it.

"If that disgusting deer puts ONE more hoof on her head or ANYWHERE else on her body, I'm rippin' his hands off with my teeth and soaking the buggers in acid!" he said stomping around. Of course it's now obvious that Kiba needed anger management, but other than that, Ino and Kiba's reign of terror was going to continue as they dragged Shino and Chouji along for the terrifying ride of following around Shikamaru and Hinata, with 'little' ol' Akamaru following them.

* * *

As Shikamaru walked, he glanced back at Hinata, whom he caught staring at him. Once she saw his eyes, she avoided contact and blushed, and poked her pointer fingers together. The corners of his mouth turned up into a small smile as he turned his head back to the front.

_I probably don't need to assume things about her feelings for me anymore, since it's pretty obvious now. Makes me wonder if she thinks about the same things though…._ He thought as they walked along a familiar path into town. Ino and Kiba crept around after them like they were actually going to get caught, crawling on the ground like soldiers in a war. Shino and Chouji just casually walked up behind them. Once they were securely hidden behind the safety of a bush, watching Hinata and Shikamaru reading a movie post for the new Bleach movie, they started their squabbling

"Just look at'em! Him and his spiky pineapple head! With all it's…..pineapple spikiness! Makes me wonder who the HELL he thinks he is! Barging into the life of our sweet, innocent Hinata and tainting her mind with all his pineapplely EVIL!" Kiba said. Shino wondered if Kiba' brain was made of any natural substance, since he can sit there and make things go beyond their actual borders of reality.

"Oh this is such an amazing feat! It seems our dear Hinata is the only one who can get that lazy bum to do anything! This is the most active he's EVER been! It's a miracle! Heck, with all the fiery passion going on the between them, I can see why he'd be so active!" Ino said happily. Chouji was too peeved to eat his chips, which is something that would make anybody gasp, but still, if he put down the camera to attempt to eat them, Ino the Jackal would lash out at him and threaten to eat his spleen if he didn't kept the camera up and running at all times. Poor, poor Chouji.

* * *

They were about to start waking again until Hinata spotted an ice cream vendor across the street, making Shikamaru stop in one step. Once she returned, she had two, double scoop ice creams. She smiled and held his in front of his face. Shikamaru took the cone from and smiled patting her head with his other hand and planting a soft kiss on her forehead. He walked ahead slowly after that, as not to drop his ice cream. Hinata stood there, ice cream melting a little by the heat radiating from her face. As soon as she regained composure she followed after him. Ino had pirouetted her way out from behind the bush and Kiba stomped so hard that it shook the leaves from trees, while Chouji and Shino cautiously stepped out from behind the bush, about a good ten feet away from their teammates.

"Oh how the heavens of love SING! That was so sugar sweet! Our sweet Dandelion bought the rough Cattail some ice cream! SEE CHOUJI! They ARE together! Other wise they wouldn't be buying stuff for each other!" Ino told him. Though Chouji was still upset about having to be her sidekick forever, he couldn't help but voice him opinion.

"Ok, look; They are FRIENDS, Ino, really, really, really GREAT friends! They are such great friends toward each other, that they buy things for each other! O technically, your theory of their so called love is completely unfounded!" he said crossing his arms. Ino's eyes narrowed and her mouth went up into a snarling frown.

"YOU listen to ME, you instigator!" she said back. Shino raised his eyebrows and Kiba was drawing stick figure pictures in the dirt of his plan to dispose of the 'Pineapple Deer Menace'.

"You can just KEEP on telling me other wise about it, but I happen to know, my dear Watson, that they are definitely TOGETHER! I just LOOK at them! They are practically GLUED to each other! Not taped, GLUED! Do you hear me?! **GLUED!!** And until I AM actually proven wrong, I don't wanna hear a DAMN thing about it! The End! Now lets go before we lose track of our recent progress!' She said turning around and grabbing Kiba by his collar, dragging him along. Shino just looked at Chouji who shrugged, and they followed along, Akamaru trailing behind.

"But Ino-"

"NOPE!" she said still walking.

"But-"

"ACK!" she said cutting him off each time. Chouji just rolled his eyes.

"Just wanted to tell her that my name isn't 'Watson'…" he said. Shino patted his shoulder.

"Eh, don't worry about it, when they get in THIS deep and get THAT serious, you just ignore it until you snap and want to throw them off the nearest cliff." He said nodding his head in Kiba's direction. Chouji agreed.

* * *

Once they headed around the next few streets, they were done with the ice creams and were still walking until they got to a bookstore, which is where Shikamaru had told her to wait. Hinata leaned against the wall of the store, twirling one of her long bangs with her finger. As you would have guessed it, Ino, Kiba and friends were watching while in the bushes.

"The NERVE of Shikamaru! Making his fair maiden wait on him! I should walk into that store and pound some manners into his pineapple head!" Ino said pouting.

"Oh I'll be pounding more than manners into his head! That evil deer bastard thinks he's so smart! MEH!" Kiba said narrowing his eyes at he door to the store. AS soon as Shino and Chouji sneered at them behind their backs, Shikamaru came walking out of the store holding a book. One she saw him exit, she pushed herself from the wall and walked over to him. He handed her to book, looking away so she wouldn't see the blush on his face. She blushed, generously taking the book in her small hands and opening it, seeing that all the pages were blank.

"I noticed your other flower pressing book was full so….." he said putting his hands in his pockets. Hinata stared at him until a smile broke out on her face.

"Oh, thank you so much! I had been meaning to get one for a while now." She said hugging him. His face lit up in a bright red, but he regained composure and hugged her back. Ino's eyes sparkled like a disco ball while Kiba's eyes were set aflame with anger and murderous intent. Chouji, of course was filming while Shino was stuck taking pictures, again (with the flash off, mind you). As soon as hug me time was over, they started walking toward Kurenai's apartment, since she might be in need of assistance, what ever it may be.

As soon as they left, you guessed it, the ShikaHina brigade jumped out from behind the bushes.

"That TEARS it! SHINO! Tell your bugs to get into shape! We're not letting Smarty McRaunchyPants take advantage of Hinata ANYMORE!" Kiba said. Shino glared at Kiba and rolled his eyes.

"No. One; because I could care less and Two; because you are exaggerating the situation." He said. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"You know what Shino, YOU'RE just jealous because you know that you don't have what it takes to come up the brilliant schemes to take down that Pineapple Menace! I mean, I've been doing everything! "he protested. Shino was getting ready to throw Kiba into the nearest furnace until Ino grabbed him and started walking off.

"Enough of your lovers quarrels Kiba-baby! We have to capture the precious moments of the Deer and his Sunshine!" she said as they walked along. Chouji looked at Shino who was going to explode.

"Do you see why I friggin' hate that idiot?" Shino said as they walked. Chouji nodded.

"I see very clearly!" he said.

"HEY! QUIT LOLLYGAGGING AND HURRY UP! They could be doing things we haven't witnessed yet!" Ino yelled back at them.

* * *

As soon as Shikamaru stepped into the door way, a vase came flying at him. He quickly turned around ad grabbed Hinata with him as it flew out the door crashing. They looked inside to see Kurenai, armed with a flyswatter.

"Where are you, you little bugger?! I know your in here!" she said looking around. The living room was barely recognizable as it seemed she had destroyed t trying to kill a fly. Hinata and Shikamaru looked at each other, afraid to walk inside. As soon as they heard her whipping the flyswatter through the air and a few more curses and thins breaking, they heard her cheer in victory.

"AH HA! Finally gotcha, you little bastard! You think you can just buzz your way into Kurenai's house? I don't think so! Little mofo…." She said disposing of the dead body of her enemy into the trash. As soon as she was done, Shikamaru and Hinata cautiously walked into the house, kicking their shoes off, cautiously looking at Kurenai.

"Oh! Hi guys, sorry about the mess, see a fly got in and it was being a little bitch and wouldn't leave, so I had to use some good ol' Kurenai FORCE." She explained smiling. Shikamaru and Hinata sweat dropped.

"Oh, uh, it's okay Kurenai…" Shikamaru said as he and Hinata sat at the dinning room table.

"Um…yes Kurenai, it's alright…" Hinata said smiling.

"GOOD!" she said, going into the kitchen. As soon as she went into the kitchen, the ShikaHina brigade had just climbed n ANOTHER nearby tree. Kiba and Ino had freed Chouji and Shino the task of capturing the 'precious moments' on film, now having control over the camera and video camera, this time keeping a safe distance from the edge of the branch, as not to repeat what happen before.

"Hee hee hee!" Ino giggled as she taped them sitting at the table. Kiba was growling and murmuring thousands of profanities while snapping pictures of the scene, while Shino and Chouji were reading the newest Shonen Jump.

Kurenai returned back into the dinning room with a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk. Shikamaru and Hinata were thankful, but suspicious.

"Thank you." They both said at the same time while eating the cooked dough. While they ate, Kurenai stood there, grinning from ear to ear. They looked up at her, fearful of her replicated Ino grin.

"I bet you're wondering why I did this aren't you?" she asked and they nodded their heads.

"Well I was wondering if…………you two could possibly oh I don't know…..clean my living room?!" she blurted. Both sets of eye widened. Shikamaru frowned a bit; he saw this coming the moment she started smiling. He swallowed his chewed cookie and took a drink of the milk, a mustache left on his upper lip.

"Is that why you tried to bribe us with food?" he asked and she nodded. Hinata couldn't say much, since she was still munching on her cookies.

"Yes! Okay, listen I'm taking a powernap so try not make a lot of noise! Kay thanks bye!" she said rushing out of the room. Shikamaru just stared at the spot she was just in.

"Aw shit……well, let's get to work Hinata…" he said grabbing her now empty plate and glass along with his and putting them into the sink. They soon got to work, cleaning up her disaster area of a living room. They had gotten most of the furniture back into place, since Kurenai somehow got the couch flipped over with the coffee table balanced on top of it. As Hinata stood up to straightened her back from bending over so much, she noticed that the strings that operated to fan were caught in the upper part of it, so she decided to untangle them. She lowered her head to Shikamaru, who was desperately trying to figure out how Kurenai managed to get her TV stuck in her bookshelf.

"Oh, um, Shikamaru….." she said. Shikamaru looked in her direction.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Um, could you help me with the fan, I can't reach it…" she said. Shikamaru nodded and walked over I front of her. He proceeded to lift the smaller chuunin by wrapping one arm around her waist and the other right under her bottom. They both blushed at the close contact, but still, they had a job to do.

Meanwhile, outside the apartment in a tree in front of the window, which JUST happened to be in he right place for them to see the actions, the ShikaHina brigade was on fire. Well, KIBA was on fire from all of his anger geared towards Shikamaru, Ino was on cloud nine as she videotaped the scene and Shino and Chouji were now, surprisingly, ready the new Shoujo Beat (a/n:yeah, I went there!) while Akamaru was observing some wandering butterflies.

Shikamaru watched as Hinata lifted her arms to untangle to chains of the fan. He smiled and began to lower his head. He was content until his face glowed an unnatural shade of deep red, his eyes wide at the site before him. He, Shikamaru, was now face to face with Hinata's large chest. His heartbeat quickened several miles and he was stiff as a statue unable to move or think. As soon as Hinata successful untangled to chains, she looked down to tell Shikamaru he could let her down, until she saw why he wasn't responding. She was deeply embarrassed now. When Hinata gasped, he looked up, with of their faces glowing the same red hue and they stared at each other.

Ino had covered her mouth to keep from squealing while Kiba was being sat upon by Shino and Chouji to keep him from flying off the branch and into Kurenai's house. As soon as the never ending tension was lifted, Shikamaru gently lowered Hinata. They stood frozen in their spots. As soon as Shikamaru was ready to talk, Hinata fainted right in the middle of the floor. Ino awed and pouted in a disappointed way since it meant the show was over. Shikamaru picked up Hinata and decided to take her home since her mission started tomorrow. Once he informed Kurenai, he went out the door, the now sleeping Hyuuga girl on his back.

They could see him from the tree and so they ha decided to follow quickly, well, not quite

"THE FIERY PASSION IS BACK FULL THROTLE!!" Ino screamed as she stood up on the branch. Once Kiba struggled from under Chouji and Shino he made the stupidest move by running on the branch over to Ino.

"WHERE IS THAT CREEPY LECHY BASTARD?!" he screamed. Once the weight was JUST right enough on the branch, it snapped causing déjà vu of the recent accident again. Both Ino and Kiba screamed as they fell to the ground. Shino and Chouji howled with laughter. Akamaru came from behind his hiding spot once they landed.

* * *

Once Shikamaru made it back to the Hyuuga mansion, he had carried Hinata in. While he was shown by Hiashi were her room was, he wasn't free from Hiashi's crazy comments

"My poor daughter! Jeeze boy, don't get all heavy with the loving on her yet!" Hiashi said grinning. As soon as a loud crash was heard from the kitchen, Shikamaru was relived because Hiashi went flying out of the room and downstairs.

"Dammit Neji! Hanabi! Away from my cheesecake you rapscallions! It belongs to ME!"He screamed. Shikamaru sweat dropped. He slowly laid Hinata on her bed. He looked down at her sleeping form, smiling at her. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead gently.

"See you tomorrow Hinata." He said as he walking out of her room closing the door. Hinata smiled in her sleep.

* * *

**/The next day/**

Today was the day that Hinata had to go on her week long mission. Shikamaru had stood with Hinata a little far off her from where both their teammates where.

"Thank you for coming to see me off Shikamaru, I appreciate it very much…." She said blushing.

"Don't mention it…" he said smiling.

"I'll be back soon, okay? Please don't be too lonely…" she said. Shikamaru patted her head.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can find something to do, if Kurenai doesn't kill me first…..." He reassured her, which made her smile.

"Good!" she said. As soon as he was going to talk, she was called over by Shino.

"Well, um, I'll see you Friday, okay?"

"Okay……and Hinata…" he said as she slowly started walking. She stopped to turn around.

"Please be careful and come back home safe…" he said in a serious tone. Hinata blushed lightly and nodded. Once they both walked over to their teams, team 10 bid team 8 good bye as they walked out of the gates. The ShikaHina brigade watched cautiously as Hinata and Shikamaru waved at each other. One Shikamaru walked away and Hinata turned around, Kiba and Shino looked back. Ino gave Kiba the thumbs up sign and vice versa and Chouji and Shino nodded at each other.

Though Hinata barely left the Konoha gates, she and Shikamaru had already missed each other.

* * *

**MAN! I don' know why but this chapter was kind of HARD to write! I know it took a while to update, sorry, I got painfully lazy as well…..**

**Anyway, I won't be so lazy with chap 9!**

**Until chapter 9, JA'NE! Oh, and, review please!**


	9. Chapter 9: Reunions and Charades

**Look! Chapter 9! Anyway, I don't have much to say really, except that this time I made DAMN sure there were NO typos! I went back and read my other chapters and I wanted to slap myself because of the horrid typos I saw . Anyway, let's hope I won't make a mistake this time!**

**Disclaimer: Let's just face it, none of us here will ever own Naruto. **

**( this chapter was beta-ed by ****kawaiichiisaikitsune ****) **

--

The week of Hinata's absence had finally gone and passed. It was Friday, and Shikamaru was steadily awaiting her return. When she was gone, he had thought about her the whole week, his mind lost deep in thought. He stood against a nearby wall that was about a few feet from the gates of Konoha, waiting for her team to show up.

Hinata sped walked quickly ahead of her team, eager to get back to Konoha for a specific reason, and, of course, you know what it was. Kiba was jotting down her behavior, since he and Ino agreed to watch their teammates while they were away from each other. Shino just rolled his eyes at how serious he was about it. He was also surprised that Kiba knew how to write at all, but he just decided that, since he didn't have to do anything, he would keep to himself.

"Just look at her, Shino! That filthy deer has her so deep in his clutches she can't wait to be with him. It sickens me," he said as he whispered, and growling. Shino just rolled his eyes from behind hid sunglasses and kept looking forward. Hinata was happily humming her way ahead of them, not having a care in the world.

As soon as the gates of Konoha were in Hinata's line of view, she dashed ahead at full speed, leaving Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru in her dust cloud. Shino wafted the dust away while Kiba stared at Hinata's disappearing form. As Shino put his hand down, he saw Kiba running at top speed after her, the dust going up in clouds coming at him. Shino sighed and ran after Kiba with Akamaru beside him. As soon as Hinata put on her breaks, she slid into the open gates of Konoha, coming to a complete halt. The secondAs soon as she stopped, she started searching for a certain deer. She didtook a double take to herin the left direction, spotting him leaning on the wall. As soon as her eyes laid on her target, she took off running. Once Kiba reached the gates, he hand his hands on his knees, catching his breath, breathing harshly. Shino walked right up next to him and looked down at his tired teammate.

"What's this, Kiba? Tired already? Looks like you might have to lose some weight; you'll have to cut down on the kibble," Shino said, chuckling. Kiba shot an angry glare at Shino.

"My foot... in… your ass!!," he said as he tried to talk, wheezing in between words.

The second Hinata was in front of Shikamaru, his face lit up with aand he smiled. She exhaled, catching her breath, and smiled back at him. He lifted himself away from the wall.

"Couldn't wait to see me, could you?" he asked. Hinata blushed and looked at her shuffling feet.

"I guess not. I mean, I did miss you a lot…" she said, smiling and blushing. Shikamaru reached out and patted her head.

"Yeah, well, I missed you, too." A blush was visible on his cheeks. "I'm also glad you came back in one piece too, no missing limbs or anything," He said jokingly. Hinata covered her mouth and laughed. They began to walk away from the gates. Little did they know that Kiba and Shino had snuck away to meet with the other members of the "ShikaHina brigade."

"How long did you wait here?"

"Well, since," he paused, "six am this in the morning." Hinata's eyes opened a large fraction at how early he had gotten up to actually wait for her return.

"Why that early!?" she asked, since her team had arrived at two in the afternoon. "You actually waited here for eight hours?" she questioned again. He nodded.

"Well, sure I waited, but I did take breaks, you know. Standing up is troublesome enough," he said, scratching the back of his head. "And I didn't know when you would be back either." Hinata exhaled and calmed down a bit.

"Oh, well, you didn't have to do that for me," she explained, "I'm not that important." Shikamaru's eyes widened, and he stopped her.

"Don't say that. You are one of the most important people to me, okay? So don't think of yourself like that. You are very important, Hinata." Hinata nodded her head and blushed from the close contact of his hands on her shoulders. He pulled away as soon as he noticed himself.

"I-I am?" she asked, her stutter reappearing. She smiled. "Thank you! I'm very happy!" Before he could comprehend her smile, she hugged him. Shikamaru's face lit up in a light red color. He tried to overcome his blush before she could see it. Once she let go of his midsection, they were bother ready to start walking again.

--

Kiba and Shino walked a while until they spotted Ino, who forcefully made Chouji accompany her.

"Kiba-baby!" she said as she took off running toward him. and Kiba did the same toward her.

"Ino-baby!" he said. Once they collided, they were in a hug-fest. Chouji and Shino cringed at the sight.

"Ugh, so vile," Shino said.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit," Chouji said, looking green in the face. As soon as Ino and Kiba were done contaminating the area with their love vibes, they got right down to business.

"Okay! You got your notes?" Ino asked. Kiba pulled out his notepad.

"Yep ! All right here," he said, patting the notebook before then handing it to her. She handed hers to him and, once they finished the transaction, they got right down to reading. Shino and Chouji could only watch them with no interest, and, luckily, Chouji brought some Uno cards with him. Kiba read the notes in disgust as his lip upturned into a snarl, and his eyes narrowed.

"That sick, twisted bastard! He had the nerve to accidentally call you 'Hinata' twenty times!?" he demanded. Ino nodded.

"Yes! Did you read the rest? It's so cute! Because he did it–"she started before Kiba cut her off.

"Every day?!" he exclaimed. Ino nodded again. Her eyes widened and her lips formed a scary, excited smile.

"She said his name in her sleep? Aw!" She squealed. They continued to read over note after note of information. Kiba decided, when he read the last horrible line in the notepad, that that was the last straw when he read that last horrible line in the notepad.

"That dirty... He actually had the nerve to get up at seven in the morning and wait for eight hours to see her!? What kind of sorcery is that!? He's as lazy as lazy can get, yet he does this!" Kiba said before coming to a realization. "I get it. That dirty deer actually thinks that if he get a head start on her arrival so he'd have time to snake his evil hooves on her and manipulate her some more into his pineapple clutches!" he exclaimed. His power to exaggerate was simply amazing, right? Just as soon as Shino and Chouji were finishing up the game, Kiba took initiative.

"Shino, get your bug shell ass up! We've got training to do," Kiba said, handing Ino's notepad back to her while she continued o read his.

"What-chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Shino asked, standing up.

"My name is not 'Willis,' Shino, and, another thing, we need to get into shape if we're gonna stop Shikamaru. We can't let his reign of terror go on anymore! So, in order to save Hinata and to permanently get rid of him, we have to go back to training," Kiba explained. Shino raised an eyebrow.

"What does training have to do with stopping him? We aren't going to have to fight him, and, frankly, I could care less. Besides, you are taking this way too seriously, and I–" Kiba cut him off by getting into his face and staring him down.

"For shame, Shino! You have obviously forgotten that Hinata is our teammate and that Shikamaru is the phantom menace. I guess that means you'll need some mental training as well," Kiba explained. Shino was about to roll up his sleeves and beat Kiba's head in, but Kiba steered away just in time and went over to Ino. Just as she was finished reading his notepad, he grabbed her hands in his.

"Ino-baby, Shino and I can no longer watch Shikamaru and Hinata with you, for we must train! We have to get stronger to destroy the Death Star, defeat Darth Vader, and save the universe!" Ino was starry-eyed and smiling.

"Oh, Kiba-baby! Of course!" she said as they hugged. Shino and Chouji both had twitching eyes.

"I swear they like to make us sick," Shino stated. Chouji nodded.

"Yeah, but," Chouji paused, "where does the 'Death Star' part come in?" he asked. Shino shrugged.

"Whenever he gets too into the situation his feeble mind tends to wander from his original train of thought, and he starts to imagine scenes from movies that he thinks we're gonna do," Shino explained. Chouji narrowed his eyes while thinking about it and he just shrugged to thought of afterward.

Once Kiba and Ino were done with their second hug-fest, they all parted ways. As soon as Shino and Kiba were out of eye range, she whirled around to Chouji, and grabbed him, and began to walk in the other direction.

"Wait a minute! Where are we going?" Chouji asked. Ino looked over her shoulder, with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"We are going to find the two love doves. Our documentary on them is not finished," she said as she whipped out the video camera.

"When did you get that? When we got here you didn't have it before!" Ino grinned even more, and that made Chouji grimace with fear

"Chouji, when you're a ninja, you can do anything! You should know that," she said as she dragged him around a corner. He sighed and prayed to the heavens that an abnormally large bird would come and take her away.

--

As soon as Ino and Chouji arrived behind a pair of bushes, they spotted Hinata and Shikamaru coming out of the supermarket with a truckload of groceries.

"Hmm, looks like Kurenai has them getting her groceries again," Ino stated. She turned her head around to Chouji, who was supposed to be getting the video camera ready.Once he was in her sight her mouth turned down into a menacing frown, and her eyes held a look of pure anger.

"Chouji, what are you doing!?" she screamed, and he flinched while he was eating a ham sandwich with the camera in his lap. "Get that camera up now!" she demanded. Chouji glared at the back of her head once she turned back around, and he pretended to pick her up and throw her away from him. As soon as he brushed his hands off, he picked up the camera and started recording. When he was about to, Ino stood up, taking him with her, and ran around a corner as Hinata and Shikamaru started walking toward Kurenai's home.

Once they reached the inside, they dropped the bags, kicked off their shoes, and sat down at the dinning room table, taking a break from lugging the bags. The second they dropped the bags Kurenai came running in at top speed and put up all the food away in a matter of seconds. Shikamaru and Hinata stared wide-eyed at her super-human, ninja speed. Once she was done, she was walking out of the kitchen with a stack of cookies and a glass of milk, waving "hello" to the two teenagers. They watched as she disappeared around the corner. Their heads turned back to look at each other, and they both didn't know what to say.

--

As expected, Ino and Chouji were in the exact same tree that she and Kiba kept falling out of. This time Ino took precautions and strapped herself to the tree branch with chains and a key lock. Ino eagerly watched Shikamaru and Hinata get up from their seats to walk into the living room, wondering about their next moves.

"Chouji," she said, "you got the camera up yet?" Chouji glared holes into the back of her head.

"Yes, Ino," he said, holding up the device and moving it until he had the other two ninja in the view of the lens.

"Good," she stated, continuing to pear through the binoculars that were strung around her neck.

Shikamaru and Hinata sat across from each other, Shikamaru in the rocking chair and Hinata on the couch. They didn't have anything else to do besides being bored. They would steal glances at each other then look away and blush. It wasn't until Hinata started talking did the silence die.

"Um, Shikamaru?"

"Hmm?"

"Um…do you want to…play a game or something to, um…keep from being bored?" she asked. He stared at her with wide eyes before smiling and sitting up.

"Sure," he replied. Hinata smiled and grabbed a checker board from under the table. While they were setting it up, Ino started giggling from her spot.

"Hee hee hee! This is so cute. They are playing a little game of checkers. Aw," she cooed. Chouji rolled his eyes.

"Geez, Ino," Chouji started, "you make it sound like we're watching two puppies or something. I mean, is it really that serious?" he asked. Ino turned her head to him, narrowing her eyes.

"You listen to me!," she said, poking him when she pointed at him, and then pointed to herself.

"Romance to us girls is a very magical and dramatical thing, and we take it very seriously! The only reason I am even this interested in their relationship is because Shikamaru and Hinata are our friends," she said, pausing for a brief second. "And Shikamaru even being in a relationship at all, especially one and with Hinata that, is practically a miracle!" she explained. Chouji nodded and slowly backed away.

"Also, I am a very nosy person too. So I can't help it!" After she finished her speech, Ino turned her midsection back to the front and continued to watch Shikamaru and Hinata. Chouji remained speechless and just decided to continue video taping, in case until Ino would decided to blown up in his face again.

--

About an hour had passed, and soon Kurenai had joined in on the fun. Now they were playing charades, and it was Shikamaru's turn. They had moved the rocking chair and the living room table to make room for the activity/charades to happen. The game they were playing involved mimicking people they knew, and the other playersperson had to guess who it was. Shikamaru looked at the paper in his hand and sighed.

"You ready Shikamaru?" Kurenai asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Geez, why'd it have to be this person," he murmured. Hinata held up the timer.

"Ready... Go!" she said, and he started to think of how to act out his chosen person.

His face lit up once he got the idea. He pulled his collar up over his nose and grabbed a book. Then he let his hair down and moved it over to the side, covering one eye. He pretended to read to the book with an interest, forcing a blush on his face and staring at the page with a sleepy looking eye. He put his hand under his chin to perfect the look. Hinata and Kurenai started laughing when they saw who it was.

Outside on the branch, Ino and Chouji both busted out laughing.

"Okay, okay, Shikamaru, we know you're Kakashi now," Kurenai said, still laughing. Shikamaru stopped his charade and put his collar down along with the book. He took his hair tie and put his hair it back in its pineapple-like look.

For the rest of the hour they continued to play, pretending to be several people. Ino was fuming on the branch because of the embarrassing impersonation Shikamaru made of her. Chouji covered his mouth to keep from laughing loud enough for her to hear.

"The next time we cross paths with him his head will be mounted on my mantle!" she stated, picking up her binoculars again. Once she looked, she saw Kurenai had left, probably to go to sleep since it was nighttime, and that Shikamaru and Hinata were getting her living room back in order. They had started to stand up from moving the table when their faces came extremely close to each others', their lips even almost closer. They backed away quickly and blushed. Ino sighed romantically.

"They are just too cute! This is more exciting than when we watched TenTen and Lee!" Chouji groaned after remembering when they did.

"I mean, I find it more appealing since we're watching a couple our age," she exclaimed. As, Chouji had to have a say in it.

"But you still haven't actually proved that they are together!," he argued. Ino gasped and looked back at him.

"How could you say that?" she asked, putting her arms akimbo. "I mean, look at them!" she said, pointing at the window. "They can't even be away from each other for a week. I think, if she can run back to the village that fast and if he can wake up that early and wait that long, then that settles it; they are in love!" She smiled and then turned back to watch them some more, only to frown.

"Hey! Where'd they go?" As soon as she asked, she saw Kurenai's front door close through her binoculars.

"Argh! Dammit, they must be heading home now," she said, putting her binoculars down. "Come on, Chouji, let's–" she started to say until she realized that she was missing the key.

"Let's what?" Chouji asked. Ino twisted her torso to look at him, and looked worried.

"I can't find the key to the lock!," she exclaimed and kept on searching. Chouji was trying not to laugh, so he exhaled before talking.

"Well, let's not panic, okay? Well find it," he said, grinding his teeth together to keep from laughing. A vein pulsed visibly on her forehead. She grabbed him, and they were both face to face.

"What do you mean, 'let's not panic'!?" she screamed. "I'm chained to a freakin' tree!" she screamed again, causing his hair to fly back.

--

Once Hinata and Shikamaru were in front of the Hyuuga compound her house, Hinata turned around, and was already blushing from just looking at him. Shikamaru was also blushing and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well… um… Shikamaru, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Hinata asked. Shikamaru smiled.

"Okay, I'll come and pick you up around nine, alright?" he asked. Hinata nodded. Shikamaru reached out, and patted her head, and turned around to head off home. Hinata stood in front of her door, watching him leave. Little did she know that Hanabi, Neji, and Hiashi were watching through the blinds of the window the entire time. As soon as she opened the door, she noticed that the lights were off. She closed the door and walked onto the foyer.

"Is anybody home? I'm back," she called. She was about to turn on the lights when she was ambushed and tackled to the ground by three people.

"AHH!" She screamed. She felt her clothes being pulled at and some other garments being put on her. As soon as her attackers were done, they got off of her, pulling her up with them. Then the lights were turned on. She blinked and looked forward to see her father, cousin, and younger sister staring at her in an observing way. She sweat dropped when she saw her father with his bubble pipe in his mouth.

"Hmm, I think it needs something more," Neji commented.

"Yeah, maybe some sequins or something," Hanabi replied. Hiashi studied her even longer and then pouted.

"I don't like it! We should have gotten the one with the twenty foot train," he complained. Hinata just stared at them with a confused look. Her eyes then wandered to the piece of clothing they threw on her, and she gasped. It was a white wedding Kimono.

"A twenty foot train?" Neji asked, appalled. "No, no, no. We should have gotten the one with the fur around the collar. It'd be perfect!" he suggested, smiling. Hiashi narrowed his eyes.

"Fur, Neji?" Hiashi asked. "Fur!? She is not going to be wearing a dead animal to her wedding! What's wrong with you, man?" he asked. Neji's eye twitched, and he gritted his teeth.

"And you," Hiashi exclaimed, pointing to his youngest. "Sequins? Come on, Hanabi! Sequins on a wedding kimono are simply atrocious! That is why you settle for pompoms," he said, smirking. Hanabi glared at him.

"Well, old man, at least I didn't want the one with the neon green in it," she spat back. Hiashi gasped.

"Oh, no, you didn't!," he said, snapping his fingers. A soon as he did, that the three of them started to argue over her kimono design. Hinata took advantage of the situation and started to sneak away, but her the three of her crazy family members had a hold on the back of her kimono, stopping her from going anywhere. She sighed and sweat dropped.

--

Shikamaru was on cloud nine until he took a step into his house. As soon as he walked in, his mother and father grabbed him and threw him on the couch. He stared at them, frightened for his life.

"What's the big deal!?" he demanded. His parents sat in the chairs in front of him. His father was leaned forward with his hands weaved together, and his mother looked like a stereotypical villain, sitting back, stroking a fat cat that was in her lap.

"Son, we grabbed you and–" his father started until Shikamaru interrupted.

"More like assaulted me!" he exclaimed. His father rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he answered. "Son, we assaulted you and threw in here for a reason," he stated again, this time able to finish his statement. It was obviously his mother's turn to speak.

"Yes! And that reason is because we need to talk," she explained. Shikamaru eyed them suspiciously.

"Okay?" he answered.

"But, before we talk, we have a question for you," his father said. Shikamaru calmed down a bit and relaxed into the couch.

"Okay, shoot," he said.

His mother and father shot smiles at each other, and then his mother asked him, "Is she pregnant yet?" Shikamaru face faulted and his cheeks lit up like a Christmas tree light.

"W-what? No! Stop asking me that!" he yelled.

"Damn," his mother cursed. "I was hoping for some grandkids," she said, pouting. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and then his father looked at him.

"Alright, we'll stop asking," he promised, and Shikamaru exhaled. There was a pause before, "You sure she isn't?" he asked again. Shikamaru blushed again.

"No, you crazy old man!" he screamed.

"Okay, okay, calm down. Just making sure," he explained. Shikamaru eyed them again and relaxed back into the couch.

"Okay, so, what do you wanna talk to me about?" he asked. He soon regretted asking since his parents looked at each other, grinned, and then looked at him the same. His father spoke first.

"Son, I think it's about time we told you about the 'Birds and the Bees,'" he stated. Shikamaru's face went completely blank and turned so red that people in the lightning country could see it. He was speechless.

"Now, son, you know how babies are born, right?" he asked. Shikamaru didn't move; he just kept on staring at them. His father blinked.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no. Well, see, when a man loves a woman, and vice versa, they–" he started to explain until Yoshino interrupted him.

"Don't you give him that filth, you nasty!" she yelled before turning to Shikamaru and smiling.

"What your father means is that when a husband and wife want a child, they summon a stork that already comes with a random baby," she explained. Shikamaru was still speechless and blushing like mad. Shikaku turned his head to her and gave her a appalled look.

"'Summon a stork'? What kind of B.S. is that? He's fifteen, not eight! Tell him the truth," he demanded. Yoshino jerked her head over in his direction so fast it looked like it was about to come off.

"Don't tell me how to tell my baby where babies come from, you freeloader! " she exclaimed, pointing to her husband.

"At least I was gonna tell him the truth and not some malarkey," he yelled back. Once his voice got to a certain tone, Yoshino let all hell loose, and they got into an argument. Shikamaru continued to sit in the same spot, speechless and red in the faced.

--

"What kind of lock is this!?" Chouji whispered. He and Ino had been stuck in that same tree for three hours already. They were both exhausted. Chouji had used his jutsu to try and break the lock, but it seemed that this lock was an "industrial strength" lock that made sure that nobody and nothing unlocked it. Even picking the lock didn't work. Chouji sat back against the trunk of the tree and tried to catch his breath.

"Oh, this sucks! I'm stuck to a freakin' tree! This was not supposed to happen," Ino complained. Chouji would have left her hours ago, but he feared that if she got loose no one would ever find his body. He looked up at her, and his eyes grew wide as he watched a spider crawl up her hair.

"U-um, Ino," he called to her.

"I mean, what kind of crap is this!? Ino Yamanaka does not get stuck to trees," she exclaimed.

"Ino!"

"Ugh! I mean, if my Kiba-boo was here, he'd save me from this weird and unusual predicament!" The spider was right on her head.

"Ino!"

"What!?" she screamed.

"There is a spider on your head," he whispered. Ino froze and looked up as the spider started to crawl down her face. She shakily watched it crawl until it was in the middle of her face. and then-

"Ahh!" she screamed and started flailing her arms about, making the end of the branch she was on started to creak and break slightly on her end. Chouji kept trying to keep her quiet.

"Shh, Ino, stop screaming! You're gonna wake up all of Konoha!," he whispered. Ino clearly wasn't listening and continued to scream, and most violently trying to get the spider off of her. Then a window from an apartment opened, and Kurenai stuck out her upper half and one arm out. She had curlers in her hair, a facial mask on her face, and a boot in one hand.

"Ahh! Get it offa–"BAM! Ino was hit so hard in the face with the boot that the branch on her end snapped, and she went crashing down to the ground once again. Chouji watched with wide eyes as she fell.

"That'll teach ya, ya damn cats!" Kurenai yelled. She went back in and closed her window. Chouji jumped down next to the two foot, Ino-shaped hole in the ground.

"Mm?" she spoke, her voice muffled. Then she lifted her head slightly. "Chouji! Did you capture the fiery passion of the love birds?" she asked. Chouji sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, Ino, I got the 'fiery passion' on tape, don't worry," he answered. She smiled, and one of her front side teeth fell out.

"Good!" she exclaimed and dropped her head back down. Chouji rolled his eyes and picked up her now unconscious body to take her home. He just couldn't wait for tomorrow to come now.

--

**And so, here you are! At the end of the chapter! I am so glad that all of you are reading this story and giving me support, because I need it.**

**Anyway, you might not see chapter 10 for a while, since I won't at home a lot due to bandcamp, so expect it around next month hopefully.**

**Anyway, please Review**


	10. Chapter 10: Kurenai's Plumbers

**Okay, so, here is chapter 10! The reason it's like, a thousand years late is because I was taking forever to finish it at first, then after that I was going to wait for my beta reader to get finished beta-ing it, but I decided not to keep you guys waiting anymore. I'll just replace this chapter with the beta-ized version when my beta reader sends it back to me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters within it.**

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Shikamaru sighed as he walked away from his front door. He was lucky enough to even make to the door at all with his parents still bothering him about dating and other things. He turned a corner that would lead him to Hinata's house. Unbeknownst to him, there was a bush with four legs following him.

"Ino!" Chouji whispered.

"What?!" she harshly whispered back with a lisp.

"Why are we lugging the bush with us? This is too suspicious!" he whispered.

"Because it's tiring just hiding behind corners and trying to catch up to him and Hinata! So it would be better to just carry a bush with us to hide in instead of looking for one, so they won't know we are following!" she explained. Chouji made a confused face.

"I don't get it." he stated. Ino rolled her eyes.

"You are beyond hopeless!" she told him. Chouji glared at the back of her blonde head as they tiptoed behind Shikamaru, carefully stopping to watch his movements and to make themselves go unnoticed.

Shikamaru walk around a few more corners till he neared the Hyuuga compound. He walked through the open gates and was now in front of the door. He knocked on it with the back of his fist. He waited a few minutes until he heard running. He backed up quickly when he saw the door burst open and a panting Hinata came out and grabbed his hand, leading him away from the door. As soon as she starting leading him away, her father poked half of his body out from behind the door.

"Don't be too late getting home Hinata! I want you to try on this adorable veil I got you!" he said holding out in his hand the veil, which was really a viking helmet with horns and the veil attached to the front of it. Hinata and Shikamaru looked back in fear and took off running.

As soon as they were at least a good thirty feet away from the Hyuuga compound, they stopped to catch their breath.

"Well, I was gonna ask why you were running, but I see why now." he stated. Hinata stood up straight from leaning over and looked him the in eye.

"Yes. My father is getting crazier everyday! He keeps wanting me to try on all of these wedding articles." she told him.

"At least he didn't try to tell you about the "Birds and the Bees." he stated. " My parents are going to be the death of me."

Hinata snickered as they started to walking along. Little to their knowledge, Ino and Chouji were still following while in the disguise of a ordinary bush. They tiptoed along behind Hinata and Shikamaru, following their every move.

"I think we should visit Kurenai." Hinata said in the middle of the silent walk. Shikamaru sighed. Kurenai was just as bad and his parents and hers. The only worse thing being that she was a crazy and pregnant at the same time.

"Eh, I guess we should," he agreed. " It's not like we have anything better to do." he stated. Hinata smiled as they walk around a corner, heading toward Kurenai's house, and as usually, Ino and Chouji followed suit.

As soon as Hinata and Shikamaru rounded another corner they were face to face with team seven, who were running.

"I freaking hate you guys right now!" she screamed chasing after Sai and Naruto. Hinata and Shikamaru watched as Sakura ran after them with what seemed like a bloody nose on her person.

"Why did you make me do that henge you bastard!?" Naruto screamed as Sai just smiled and shrugged as they ran around the corner with the crazed pinkette chasing after them. Hinata and Shikamaru and several other pedestrians watched the scene with wide confused eyes. Shikamaru was the first to speak of the two.

"No comment." he said as he an Hinata began to walk off. Ino and Chouji ran around the corner after them.

Once they reached he apartment, they were standing in front of the door, ready to knock on it. As soon as Shikamaru raised his hand, the door itself flew open with a smiling Kurenai in the doorway. Hinata and Shikamaru stared at her. When ever Kurenai smiled at them like that they were always wary.

"Good, you're here!" she said herding them inside her apartment. Still outside, Chouji and Ino sat down their bush.

"Oh great!" Ino complained. " They went inside again!" she stated. " As much fun as this is, I'm tired of having to climb in that damn tree to get footage of them!" the said as she lisped most of the words she spoke. Chouji covered his mouth to keep from laughing out loud at her temporary speech impediment. Ino crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side, thinking of another method to capturing Shikamaru and Hinata's "romantic" antics on tape.

Once they were inside, they sat at Kurenai's kitchen table while Kurenai herself stood in front of them.

"Okay then!" Kurenai said. " Now, I have you two in front of me for a reason, and that reason is-" she had said. Shikamaru and Hinata stared at her, ready to hear what chore he wanted them to do now.

"Fix my bathroom sink!" she said smiling. Shikamaru and Hinata just continued to stare at her in disbelief. They had already gone from being her maids and now…her personal plumbers. As if things couldn't get any worse, she had already had a tool box sitting on the counter, just ready for them to use.

"It's nothing that I'm sure you guys can't handle! All you need to do is tighten a few things because water keeps leaking out of the pipe!" she explained. The two teens remained silent.

"Anyway, I wont be here, I'll be out shopping for my bundle of joy!" she said as she grabbed a purse. " See you around, and remember there's food in the fridge if you get hungry! Oh! And you might need to close the bathroom door when you go in, since the bathroom isn't all that big. Bye!" she said as she closed the door.

Shikamaru and Hinata slowly looked at each other and then at the bright red tool box on the counter. Shikamaru sighed.

"This" he started. " Is very, very troublesome. First we're her slaves.." he paused." And now, we're her plumbers." he said slowly standing up go get the tool box. While he walked over he rolled up his sleeves.

"Well, she really just needs our help." Hinata pointed out as she followed him to the bathroom.

"Sure," help." he complained. Hinata snickered at his lazy complaint.

As soon as they both went into the bathroom, the front doors handle started to move a bit. It jiggled a few times until it opened. As soon as it opened the bathroom door closed. Ino and Chouji tiptoed in and once they were fully inside the apartment they slowly closed the door. Ino's infamous grin never left her face and she started to giggle. Chouji was sweating bullets and bombs.

"Ino…" Chouji whispered anxiously. " I don't think this is such a good idea…" he stated. Ino whipped her head around to him, narrowing her eyes.

"Are you trying to say my idea isn't good?!" she whispered harshly, the lisp still there. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas! So shut up and come on! I know they're in here somewhere!" she said as she started snooping around, using her handy dandy romance detecting senses. Chouji sighed and followed his crazy teammate. They rounded the corner into a small hallway. As they started to pass the bathroom, they both stopped after they heard what seemed to be voices.

"You know, Shikamaru, I don't think it's big enough to fit…" Hinata said. Ino and Chouji looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Nonsense. It's big enough…" Shikamaru said after her. Ino's face broke out into a sly, Cheshire cat smile. Chouji's cheeks flared to a noticeable red color.

"Okay, it's on, so I twist it towards you and you keep it going in your direction." Shikamaru stated.

Ino's head slowly turned toward Chouji, who also turned his head. He flinched when he saw the look on Ino's face. He grin got larger.

"You see! " she whispered. " The fiery passion has set it's course!" she said as she silently squealed. Chouji sweat dropped. Ino whipped out a tape recorder and began to record the conversation on the other side.

Unbeknownst to Ino and Chouji, Hinata and Shikamaru weren't doing what they thought, they were actually knee deep in fixing Kurenai's sink. They had a wrench on the pipe, attempting to tighten it to stop the leaking. Unfortunately they aren't actual plumbers and the pipe wasn't giving them an easy time either.

"Shikamaru" Hinata said as Shikamaru was looking in the tool box for another tool to use.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Um…well.. I think we did something wrong…" She said. Outside, Ino and Chouji glanced at each other then kept on listening through the other side of the door. Shikamaru looked at Hinata and his eyes started to widen at the sight.

"It's leaking! Shit!" He said. Ino and Chouji heard what sounded like running around on the other side of the door.

"Where are the towels in this place!? It's like Kurenai keeps moving them every five minutes!" Shikamaru said as the water spread on the floor slowly.

"I don't know! Maybe I should go and check in the hallway closet?" Hinata suggested. Ino and Chouji panicked . They quickly got up and scrambled around the corner in order to hide. They were flat against the wall at they heard the bathroom door open and then close after a few minutes. Ino pulled Chouji slowly along the corner near the bathroom again.

"Okay, we got towels now turn it towards me this time!" Shikamaru said. Ino's mouth grew into another creepy looking grin. Chouji's face went to a dark shade of red. As soon as they were at the door of the bathroom again they froze when they heard the front door open. They looked at each other and heard Kurenai's voice.

"Oh shit! Come on Chouji! We have to get out of here now!" she whispered. Chouji sighed in relief.

"Finally! Something we agree on!" he said as they escaped through a window in Kurenai's bedroom. Kurenai walked to the bathroom and opened the bathroom door and stared at the two chuunin.

"Well!" she said smiling. "Such progress!" she said. Hinata and Shikamaru were sitting on the floor with wet feet and towels everywhere.

"Kurenai, please." Shikamaru said as he sighed. " Next time, call some actual plumbers. We were very close to flooding your house." he explained. Kurenai smiled again.

"Well, at least you stopped the leak!" she pointed out. " How's about I fix you two some food?" she asked. Hinata and Shikamaru nodded in unison. Once Kurenai walked away from them, they preceded to picking up the soaked towels.

"Watch, I bet next she'll want us to put in a Jacuzzi or something outrageous like that." Shikamaru stated. Hinata giggled at his little joke. His mouth turned up into a small smile.

----

After they had that lovely meal with Kurenai, Shikamaru and Hinata had left her humble abode and started to walking home. As they walked, they had noticed Sakura, who was across the street in front of them, dragging something that was tied to a rope. Hinata and Shikamaru both squinted at the mass until they figured out that she was dragging a very beat up Naruto and a very beat up Sai along. Both of them were currently knocked out cold. Hinata and Shikamaru looked at each other and then back to the proudly smiling Sakura who was humming as she marched along. As soon as Sakura was out of their sight, Hinata and Shikamaru started walking again.

"That was-" Hinata started to say.

"Awkward." Shikamaru said as he finished her sentence. Right when they walked around the corner. Ino and Chouji ran out from behind a tree they were spying on them behind.

"Look at them, Chouji!" she said as they watched them. " Two lovers walking together." she said sighing with love drunk enthusiasm. "It's like watching a really corny yet adorable teenage love story turned movie!" she said. Chouji rolled his eyes at her rambling. After Ino was finished with her little moment, they stealthily followed after their fellow chuunin.

---

Shikamaru and Hinata stopped at the Hyuuga compounds opening. Hinata turned toward Shikamaru and smiled at him, he in turn, smiled back at her.

"Today was very interesting." she told him.

"Yeah, very.." he answered back. " Being Kurenai's slaves really does pay off." He said smiling while she giggled. " I'll be seeing you tomorrow, ne?" he asked as he patted her head. Hinata nodded.

"Of course!" she told him. Shikamaru looked up after noticing out of the corner of his eye that Hinata's father, cousin and sister were watching them from behind the door. Hinata turned around her self after noticing that Shikamaru looked away from her. Once they saw that Shikamaru and Hinata had spotted them they retreated back inside quickly and went to watching from behind the blinds of a window.

"I should go before they try anything weird and unusual." Hinata said. Shikamaru nodded.

"I understand perfectly." He told her. He watched as she ran to her front door. Once she opened it she waved at him and he waved back. As soon as she closed the door. Shikamaru started walking toward his own house. Right as soon as he was around the first corner, Ino and Chouji came out from behind another, but stopped in their tracks.

"Hey!" Ino said. " Where'd they go?!" she squawked.

"Well, I'm guessing that Hinata is in her house and Shikamaru went home." Chouji explained. Ino started to sob.

"No! This can't be!" she said as she was bawling. " We missed their beautiful departure!" Chouji sighed.

"This will not happen again! Next time we are double timing it when we follow them!" she said as she stopped crying. " No more late steps behind them!" she demanded. Chouji just started to back away from her. She turned around quickly and she stared at him.

'Where do you think you're going?!" she asked. Chouji froze. She grabbed him by his collar and was face to face with him. " We aren't done yet! We have to analyze the tape!" she told him as her left eye twitched. He grimaced at her psychotic demeanor.

"Oh no." he said quietly as Ino started to drag him down the street.

* * *

**So! How was this chapter? Did you guys like it? I hope so. I'd also like to say that this was the most perverted chapter I've ever written!**

**Anyway, expect chapter 11 to be out as soon as I can get it out! And be in for a surprise! (edit: okay never mind XD i'm not writing the next chapter christmas, seeing as it would be too late now D: but oh well, I'll just try to have it out around the New Years!)**

**Review please.**


	11. Chapter 11 : This Feeling

**Alright! So here is chapter 11! Before I go on, I'd like to say that when I thought about the earlier chapters of this story, I wish I could have done better. Seriously. Because like the first maybe , five chapters are really cheesy and corny XDD. But, I digress.**

**That, and I'm sorry for keeping all of you waiting for about nine thousand and one years ( over nine thousand!!!). It's only because we couldn't stay in our house for a while and well…yeah! Anyway, I am terribly sorry for the long wait.**

**Anyway! I know you've been waiting a while for this, so here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**( also, I will inform you all now that kiss you all want to see will be happening soon! Just have some patience! Because I don't know when I will be able to update again )**

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Months had passed for Konohagakure. The spring, summer and fall seasons went past quickly, and winter was now setting in. Though, it got some what chilly in Konoha, they weren't expecting any snow to come their way. Just not to many sunny skies and some brisk weather.

Ino and Chouji sat at the booth of the diner, across the street from where Hinata and Shikamaru stood, admiring the items in the windows. Chouji nervously drank his hot chocolate as Ino peered through her binoculars. They had the video camera placed on the table in an angle that would capture the scene in front of them.

"Look at that!" she pointed out excitedly as she watched the two shinobi walk into the store, her lisp gone due to the new gold front tooth in her mouth. Chouji's eyes widened as she was almost laying across the table to get a better view of the two. Apparently the binoculars didn't see far enough for her.

"Chouji!" she called. Chouji grimaced. Her voice had that essence of mischief and candy coated evil happiness on it.

"Yes, oh evil overlord of romance?" he said, murmuring the last phrases. Ino wiggled on the table.

" They went into the store! I wonder what they're buying!" she said, excitedly. Chouji rolled his eyes. This was getting way to crazy, but then again, he had no choice, Ino had enough crazy for twenty people, and that was bad enough. Facing Ino's wrath would be like pissing off a herd of wild animals that have rabies. Not good. Chouji almost spit out the now warm drink he was drinking when Ino gasped loudly.

"They bought something!" she almost screamed. He and most of the other customers in the diner stared at her, almost wanting to run away and never come back. " I wonder what it is!" she said, sounding like am over enthusiastic child. Chouji sighed

"It could be anything!" Chouji exclaimed. " I mean it's not like you could see through the stores windows! They have that paint made for glass on it!" Ino's head jerked in his direction and her eyes narrowed into a menacing glare.

"You you think I didn't know that?!" she asked. " Don't sass me Chouji! I don't play!" she said directing her attention back two Hinata and Shikamaru who were going down the street. Chouji was almost tempted to throw her out the window and make a mad dash for it out of there, but that idea had death written all over it.

Just as he finished his drink, he noticed Ino putting her light jacket on and her scarf, grabbing the video camera.

"Okay, Chouji let's head out!" she said smiling her usual eager smile. " This video camera isn't going to follow them by itself!" she said. Chouji wanted to die. She just wasn't making life easy for him this time around. Just as Chouji was putting his jacket back on, Ino's talon like hand grabbed his wrist and flew out of the diner and around the corner of it to follow Shikamaru and Hinata.

While Ino was squealing, giggling and blushing with happiness, Chouji was crying and fearing what life he thought he had left.

* * *

As they rounded the corner, Hinata held the list in front of her face, looking over what they had already had and what else they needed to get for Kurenai. Shikamaru was behind her, toting the heavier parcels. It would not be a lie to say that he didn't want to carry a thousand pounds of junk, but he had no choice. Kurenai's pregnant konoichi rage and Hinata's sugar sweet beg faces had an effect on him.

"How much more do we have to get?" he asked. " I mean, what does she need all this garbage for anyway?"

"I'm not quite sure." she told him looking for the appropriate store for which you could buy mouse traps. " I'm sure she just needs other necessities that aren't food." she told him.

"Really? I didn't know that arrows for a crossbow were a necessity."

"Well, she did say that there are mice coming into the building looking for a place to stay while it's cold." she said motioning for him to go into a drug store. " And she also said they were pretty big." Shikamaru sighed.

As soon as they went into the drug store, the door shutting behind them, Ino poked her devious little head from behind a corner.

"Hmmm." she wondered looking through her binoculars. " They keep going from store to store. "

"What all does Kurenai need if they have to keep moving about?" Chouji wondered, holding the camera and not bothering to look through it. He flinched when Ino gasped loudly.

"Maybe she's just making them go out and get stuff for her so they'll have no choice but to spend more time together!" Ino theorized. Chouji did think that was a good idea, on the sly, but then again, he also didn't think Kurenai cared much for teenage romance.

"Or maybe she just needs them to go shopping for her?" he added in. He could hear the bones in Ino's neck make a devastating crack when she turned to face him. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face to hers.

"No! I will not have you ruining my sun-shiny imagination, alright?!" she ground out. Chouji violently nodded. She let him go and went back to see the other two walk out of the store.

"Oh! On the move again, I see!" She pointed out. As soon as she was about to start following, she saw nothing but darkness in front of her binoculars.

"Hey!" she said frowning. " Who turned off the lights?!" She took away her binoculars to look up and see Sakura looking down at her.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked. Ino stared at her.

"What's it look like! We're recording history! Shikamaru and Hinata : The Super Couple!" she said , her eyes shining.

Sakura just looked up at Chouji while Ino peered around Sakura. Chouji started making gestures that would point out that Ino is a crazy, border-line psycho who desperately needed help.

"Oh! Look there they- hey!" Ino said again. Sakura and Chouji turned to look at her as she was face to face with a plethora of orange.

"Where'd all the orange come from!?" she asked. Naruto just stared at Ino as she was bent slightly in front of him, staring at nothing but his orange and black jacket trough the binoculars.

"Ino, that's just Naruto! Take off those binoculars so you can see!" Chouji called to her. Ino looked up from them and glared at the grinning boy.

"Excuse me! Couple watching in progress!" she said snaking her way around him to follow the so called "couple." Naruto, along with Sai, Sakura and Chouji, stared in disbelief.

"So…." Naruto stared to say, "This is what she does now, huh?" he asked. Chouji nodded.

"She drags me along with her, too!" he said, sighing. "And I have choice but to or she'll slather my entrails across Konoha." he said shivering at the thought. Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing all too well that she does that to Sai and Naruto on a daily basis. Her two teammates shuddered at the thought.

"That's… just really sad…" Sakura said watching Ino wonder around the corner. "She's either really bored…she's gone back into that "hopeless romantic" phase… or she's just gone insane, which ever one works!" she said. Chouji nodded.

"Let's just say, all of the above, in my opinion." He replied.

As the four of them stood there, a long arm snaked it's way around the same corner Ino walked behind, and grabbed Chouji by his arm, and dragged him off. Sakura , naruto and Sai watched as Chouji cried tears of fear as he was soon around the corner. Naruto's eyes grew large and he looked at his two teammates.

"How did she do that?!" he asked. " She was seven blocks away and her arm! It's just…it was just…long and creepy!" he said, going into hysterics about Ino's weird yet….amazing feat of stretching her limbs to impossible lengths.

"I don't understand…" Sai said. He hadn't figured Ino as one to be…that eccentric. Sakura sighed.

"Look, I've known Ino a bit more than you have, and trust me," she paused, to put two hands on Naruto and Sai's shoulders. "That was just the appetizer of her terror." she said.

Naruto made a face. "I'd hate to see the main course then!" he replied. Sai nodded.

"Or the side items…or the codements….or the drinks…" Sai added. Naruto put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think we get it…" he told him.

"You know what…let's follow them!" Sakura said smiling. "I want to see what they've been doing anyway." Naruto looked at her in disbelief.

"What's wrong with you?!" he asked. "I don't wanna be around all of that if Ino's gonna be a creeper!" he said, not noticing that Sakura was already dragging him and Sai. Naruto looked around and noticed that he was not moving by his own two feet. He looked over to Sai, who was only smiling.

"Too late." he said. Naruto sighed and just decided to try and go with the flow.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata collapsed onto Kurenai's couch, after she had made then rig up her house from being invaded by pests. Kurenai smiled and handed them glasses of lemonade.

"Now then!" she said taking a seat in her reclining chair. "Let's see those pain in the ass mice get into my house now!" She soon pulled her new crossbow from the bag it was contained in. Shikamaru rolled his eyes while taking a sip of lemonade. Just when he though Ino was bad enough, Kurenai seemed to be just as bad.

"Is this all you'll need, Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, I'll be just fine. Thanks" she said. Shikamaru cheered to himself.

"It's a miracle." he thought. Kurenai walked into the kitchen and then came back out with two glasses of water.

"So anyway, you guys and go if you want, I can take over from here." she said. 'But I thank you for helping me out! I appreciate it." she said smiling.

"Ehh, it's no problem." Shikamaru said. Hinata nodded in agreement. After resting for a few minutes, the two chuunin left Kurenai's house and were now walking down the street.

"Well," Shikamaru said as he scratched his chin. "what do we do now? Since Kurenai decided to undo our shackles and let us free." he said. Hinata shrugged.

"I have no clue, honestly." she replied. "But I'll think about it…"

Shikamaru nodded slightly as they continued walking.

* * *

Chouji grimaced while holding Ino on his shoulders. Her elbow was digging a hole into

his head as she searched around for Shikamaru and Hinata. Sakura watched, grinning at how ridiculous Ino was being. Naruto narrowed his eyes in disbelief, while Sai could only stare in wonder.

"So Ino," Sakura started. "What makes watching Shikamaru and Hinata so much fun?" she asked. Ino put down her binoculars and looked toward the pinkette.

"What makes it so much fun?!" she asked. "Sakura! It's not merely "fun!" It's magical." she said, her eyes sparkling. Chouji made a gagging face.

"It's like…watching the sun set over the ocean! So beautiful and…" She said, trailing off. Sakura raised an eyebrow as Ino stared into space.

"What's with her?" She asked. Chouji sighed.

"Her ShikaHina sense are tingling." He explained. He looked up at Ino, was now staring off in front of them, her binoculars back in her hands. Chouji looked at his watch and began counting down.

"5...4...3...2...1." he said as Ino was now attentive to the point of insanity.

"Deer boy and Sunshine girl at twelve o'clock!" she yelled. Naruto hid behind Sai and Sakura was now grinning and holding in a laugh. "They're about to come around that corner…right about…NOW!" she said pointing as, right on time, Shikamaru and Hinata did come around that exact corner. Naruto was now in more disbelief than before.

Ino was now having a fan girl moment, watching the other two chuunin make their way on down the street. Ino then catapulted herself off of Chouji's shoulders.

"Chouji! Get out the camera! We've got footage to take!" she commanded. Chouji pouted and began taking out the video camera. Ino began following after Shikamaru and Hinata before he could even turn it on. Naruto's frown grew wider.

"This….is the weirdest shit…I have ever seen in my life…" he said. Chouji shook his head.

"Oh believe me…this isn't the worst." he said. Sakura then started laughing.

"Oh this is rich!" she said wiping tears from her eyes. Sai put a finger to his chin.

"I wonder," he said. "What does she do with all this footage?" he asked.

"Oh…that." Chouji said. "She sits in a dark room and watches it, while recording everything that they do." he said. As soon as Chouji was getting ready to follow Ino, her long, snake like cartoonified arm came from out of the blue and grabbed him by his collar and dragged him away.

"Okay…I've seen enough." Naruto said, but Sakura grabbed him and Sai. "Nope! We're going ti keep following them! I want to see crazy Ino gets!" she said.

"But she's already crazy!" Naruto pointed out.

* * *

Shikamaru and Hinata looked up from behind their menus at each other. They had decided to go out to eat, and chose a nice western restaurant. Shikamaru but down his menu.

"You know," he began. "I keep getting the feeling that we're being watched." he said looking around.

"Sometimes I do too…but I jus think it's our imagination." Hinata added. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Eh, you're probably right." he replied. The two of them went back it reading over their menus.

Oh how wrong they were, because little did they know, a certain blonde psycho was video taping their every move together, along with her faithful chub- big boned sidekick and the three tag a longs. Well, two of them are being forced to tag a long, but you get the idea.

* * *

**So how was that chapter? Did you like it?! I hope so. Here's a quick announcement for this story ; I will be finishing it soon. I know you all want more, but I'm running out of ideas for this story, honestly. But! Never fear, but there will be two or three more chapters to this story!**

**That I will try to do more one shots for the pairing ShikaHina and possibly another chapter story. Other than that, after I end this, I will also try to work on other stories for other couples, but also for this one too.**

**Anyway, until the next chapter! **


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